Go Wherever You Will Go
by Monet
Summary: A post 'Chosen' joint fic: the open road found them, while they found each other...
1. Prologue 1: San Francisco

"**Go Wherever You Will Go"**

by: Monet and Varyar

A Post-Season Seven "Buffy" Series

(feat. Xander and Faith)

**STORY ONE: SAN FRANCISCO, THE PROLOGUE**

It had been a long trip. Well, longer than the last trip. He believed that the time alone in the car was beginning to get to him. He totally bypassed Los Angeles, and where Sunnydale HAD been. It was the first time since his hometown had gotten sucked into the ground that he was even within miles of it. When the borrowed yellow bus with the few survivors of the battle that had ensued left the crater, Xander Harris chose NOT to look back. It was too painful.

He walked into the bar on a random San Francisco street to take a load off. He would probably stick around here for a bit until he moved on. He called it the road trip that was never taken between his senior year of high school and their "supposed" freshman year of college.

It was doing him good... although, he had a feeling he was denying the worse. With the black eye patch and a few days of stubble on his face, he seemed to almost fit in. Except he never lost the awkwardness. "Hey, there," he greeted the bartender. "I'll have something with alcohol in it." He smiled, trying to show it was a joke. But the guy grunted, waiting. "Oh, yeah, so maybe a gin and tonic..." He sat down and began to toss the beer nuts into his mouth, accidentally hitting the person next to him with his elbow. "Whoa, sorry there..."

"You better be sorry," Faith said, turning to kick the guy around a little, then she stopped, recognizing the voice a half-second before the face.

He was busy trying to recapture the lost beer nut to notice who the girl was. "Thus with the sorry part of my 'whoa, sorry,'" he answered, lightly.

"Xander?" she asked, grinning in a mix of surprise and happiness. "Well, damn."

Xander's eye looked up at his name and that gravelly, sexy voice. "Faith?"

"That'd be me." She gestured at the empty stool next to her. "Have a seat. I'm about halfway to drowning my sorrows. Wanna jump in?"

He blinked twice before accepting her invitation and sat next to her. "Wow, didn't think I'd run into anyone I actually know considering I know ... hardly anyone around here." He looked at her with a smile. "Drowing sorrows? Why with the drowning?" He received his drink, thanking the bartender.

"Why not?" Faith asked by way of reply, then drowned herself a little more with a mouthful of - whatever it was, she couldn't even remember.

"Your drink looks pretty strong. Don't really know if I can jump in without hitting bottom right away."

"So?" Faith grinned wickedly and clapped Xander on the shoulder. "C'mon, X-Man. Join the party."

Xander winced at the force of her hand on his shoulder but he kept smiling. It was obvious, by drowning her sorrows, there had to be sorrows to share. Of course, this was Faith - of all the people Xander had ever come across, sharing was not an option with her. "Okay, I'm game. What kind of party is this based off of?" he ventured, holding up his glass as if to toast.

Still grinning, Faith clinked glasses with Xander. "Best kind, Xander. Pity party." She emptied her glass and sent it down the bar, waiting for a fresh one. "I figure you're up for some of that. Another natural loser in the game of love," she said, then winced. "Hey, I'm sorry... I didn't mean it. Really."

Xander did feel the sting of the comment. "Well, you're not wrong," he murmured downing the rest of his drink. "Especially since really the only girl who managed to love me... well, you know the details."

Faith raised her glass again in a silent salute, then lowered it, embarrassed.

He put his glass down then gave her a sideways glance. "So, this is a pity party. Since when was this a part of your agenda? Especially in games of love?" This was an interesting twist to their meeting.

"Girl can change, can't she?" Faith asked, then shrugged. "Wait... no. That's why I'm here," she amended.

Xander turned around slightly in his seat. "Hey, not gonna try and be best buddies with you since me and you really didn't talk when you came back to Sunnydale, but can I say just how much you HAVE changed? So yeah, a girl can change - sometimes to a woman, even. Although there are those crazy surgeries that can turn a girl into a man..." He paused.

Faith stared at Xander. "Um... yeah."

"But that's not the point here, now is it?" He signaled for another drink for the both of them. "So what's the 'why' in why you are here?"

"Why?" Faith drummed her fingers on the bar. "Where else would I be, Xander? You know me. Can't stay in one place too long. Boy in every port."

Xander nodded as if understanding. "Knew you were the always on the go gal; never can stay in one place. Well, for once, we have something in common besides our hair color." He pointed to their heads. "But what does that have to do with pity parties?"

Faith exhaled impatiently. Her Slayer physiology was starting to tackle the alcohol in her system, and her clearer head didn't like anything that was going on. Well, hardly anything. Xander being here was probably - definitely - a good thing. Especially since someone else WASN'T.

Yeah, who's fucking fault is that?

"Always on the go gal..." Faith made a face. "That's the problem."

The drinks finally came back, which was a good thing, Xander noticed. Faith was getting pretty impatient - not that patience was really a virtue with her. He took his glass. "Okay, so... we're back to me asking... you know what, I'm just going to ask: what's going on with you? Did... something happen to you? Demony-kind?" He lowered his voice at the last statement.

"No! Nothing like that." Faith gestured impatiently. Why couldn't she just come out right and say it?

Faith being Faith, she did just that. "Robin and I are done."

"Robin? Who's...? Ohhhhh..." Xander turned back to face the front of the bar, kind of surprised at the news. "Guess that wasn't my imagination," he muttered, drinking his second gin and tonic. "Um, so... what happened?"

"You said it already. Always on the go gal." Faith leaned forward, her expression cold and bitter. "Tried the demon hunting domestic bliss thing. It didn't work. So..." She raised her glass one more time. "Here I am. Time of my life."

Xander stared at her glass a moment, soaking it in. First of all, that she had opened up like this and second of all, "...demon hunting domestic bliss?" he couldn't help but say aloud. People turned to look at him. He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, um, drink talking." He looked back at her. "Domestic? You... domestic?" He laughed.

"Watch it, Harris," Faith snarled, glaring angrily at him. "I'm this close to kicking someone's ass for the hell of it, and you're standing right there."

Xander abruptly stopped, coughing to hide the extra chuckles he couldn't hold in. "Um, sorry.. it's the whole... imagining you in an apron with oven mitts while slaying..." He started to laugh again but was better at controlling it. "Gee, why don't you take another drink?" He pointed to her untouched glass.

"Good idea. Yo!" Faith gestured at the bartender and then down at her glass.

"So... you and Principal Wood are living here, in San Francisco. And... you are - were - together? Was he too Principal-like for you or something?"

"Gee, Xander, you're so good at piecing together the obvious." Faith made a good start on her next drink. "Yes, we were, yes we were, and no, he wasn't. Dammit. Forget it. Let's talk about something else," she said in a uncharacteristic mumble.

"About you and the apron?"

"What?"

Xander recovered from that comment that had managed to slip. "Uh, I mean... um, yeah, I am bad at puzzles." It was obvious she was done talking about it, but he got the gist of it. "Okay, let's talk about something else then... how 'bout them Giants?" He grinned then sagged his shoulders, his face falling with them. "Look, it was great seeing you, Faith. Really it was." More than she'd ever know. "But, I'm only in town the night so I should be heading back to...well, I guess my car. Get some shut eye...literally." He pointed to his one good eye with a smile. He placed a few dollars to cover both of them. "I'm sorry that you're having one crap of a day. But... hey, you'll pull through. You always have, and I really don't doubt you will this time."

"Yeah..." Faith managed a shaky smile. "Energizer Bunny but sexy, right?"

"Actually, at a certain angle, that bunny...oh, yes. Sexy. Is you. Definitely." He wiped his suddenly sweaty hands on his jeans.

She laughed, took one last drink and then shoved the glass away. "All right. I ain't about to let you sleep in your car when I got a double room," she told Xander. "But don't get any ideas. This is just me taking pity, not me looking for a pity fuck."

Xander raised his brows at her invitation. "Um, I'm sorry. Did you just invite me to stay with you?"

"Yes."

He paused. "And did you say pity fuck?"

"Yes."

He shook his thoughts out of THAT hole. "Look, you really don't have to. I know you and me don't really...well, mesh. Heck, I think this is the longest conversation we've had since... ever. I really would hate for you to take the self-pity away from... you to place it on me. I've been on the road for a few weeks now; the car's getting to be like home."

"Dammit, Xander. For once in my life, I'm being nice. Take advantage," Faith said, grabbing him by the sleeve.

Xander looked at her, slightly dumbfounded with the thoughts that came after that. It had been a DAMN long time since he really had been with anyone. And this was just the wrong time to have current thoughts. "Uh..."

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, yeah, gotcha," he said as he was literally dragged out of the bar. He pulled out his keys. "Faith, you really don't have to be nice to me. Really, I'll drop you off at your place since you're plainly too drunk to think, inviting me to stay with you." He chuckled.

Faith just glared at him for a few seconds. Part of her wanted to deck him for the attitude. But time, and prison, had managed to dull those instincts. Mostly. At least when it came to people she liked.

"Xander, don't tell me you'd rather sleep inside your car than in a hotel room with free cable and a vibrating bed," Faith said, smirking at him. "But I will let you drive."

Xander dropped his keys at the mention of "vibrating bed." He quickly bent down and picked them up. "Hey, I stayed in a posh hotel room in the last city...okay, so 'posh' entailing hot water... Wait, why are you staying in a hotel room?" he asked, unlocking the door and opening it for her. "Do you just like hotel rooms or something?"

Faith gave him a funny look. "Where else would I stay? Sleep in an alley? Homeless shelter? Not a lot of options when you don't know anybody." Well, hardly anybody, but that door was closed for good. "Last city?" she asked, changing the subject quickly. "Where was that?"

"Not sure... somwhere between here and Fresno." Getting behind the wheel, he started the car when she got in. "And I just thought you and... him, you know... being together... well, lived... together. Just thought you lost that whole 'it's cool to stay in a motel room' fad when you left the first time from Sunnydale." He smiled.

"The hotel's about ten minutes up the road," Faith said, ignoring Xander's comments. She'd told him the sitch. That was all she wanted to say. Or at least, she thought it was. "The Kingsley Arms. Like a Motel 6, but cheap."

Okay, going to tone down on the remarks if I expect to not have bones of broken, Xander thought as he drove towards the motel. Why was it he was feeling like he and Faith had been good "pals" from the past? That was a funny, non-memory.

He pulled up to said motel, cutting off the engine. But he sat there a moment, not moving.

"Well?" Faith finally asked.

"Truth? Really awkward right now."

Faith frowned. What was that all about? She was the one with the issues here. "About what?"

He looked at her. "Um, remember when a few years ago when we were hanging out and drinking together, trading crazy demon-hunting stories?"

The Slayer just stared at him for a few seconds before saying "No."

"Yeah, exactly. Me and you..." He was waving a hand between the two of them. "... not exactly buddies. I mean, not saying I hate you, but... do you really want me to stay with you 'cause you're being friendly or because you're just still feeling really sorry for Xander Harris?"

"I want you to stay..."

Xander stared at her, dumbfounded again. It wasn't that he thought she was playing some game... he just didn't know what to think. She had been the first real person that he was so glad to see since he left the others.

Faith shrugged. "Fuck it. You don't want to, you don't have to." She kicked the car door open and slid out. "Thanks for the ride."

"Yeah, sure..." he said, watching her as she got out of the car. His hand was on the keys, wondering just what happened. Even though he was used to his less than 20/20 vision, it still took him by surprise at how bad his preception from his left side really was. That's why he didn't notice the hand that shot through the glass and grabbed at him. He turned. "Yikes!" He ducked his head, trying to turn the key while avoiding the vampire's grip.

As soon as she heard the glass shattering, Faith was on the move. She turned, sized up the situation, and jumped over the hood of the car, planting both feet in the vampire's face and landing on top of it with a satisfying thud.

She pounded the vampire's face into the pavement a few times, then staked it. "That wasn't any fun..." Faith turned to Xander. "Hey - you okay?" she asked, staring at him through what had been the window up until thirty seconds ago.

Xander let out a breath. "Yeah...didn't think they'd find..." He stoppped. "I mean, thanks." He looked nervously behind Faith. "So, I guess I should go..."

"The fuck you are. Didn't think they'd find you?" Faith demanded, placing one hand on the hood of the car in a 'don't even think about it' gesture.

He looked at her as if insulted. "I wasn't going to say... yeah, okay, I was."

"What'd you do to piss the vamps off?"

"Oh, the usual. Stopped them from accomplishing some spell that I couldn't understand... I didn't MEAN to. Glad I did, but they've been kind of following me from somewhere in Portland. So, I think it's better if I go before the rest of them come." He turned the key.

"Right. I never pegged you for the stupidest Scooby, Xander, but you're proving me wrong here," Faith said, shaking her head.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Jesus! Who am I, Xander?"

"Um... is this a trick question?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Apparently..."

Xander looked up at her. "Faith?"

Faith made an impatient gesture. "The whole thing."

"Faith..." He motioned his hand as if trying to roll more words out. "...sorry, I don't think I ever caught your last name." His eye widened. "There's a vampire coming up behind you..."

Without missing a beat, Faith ducked down and spun around, kicking out and knocking the approaching vampire down. She jumped up and staked it, then looked around in case there were more. The coast was clear.

"There. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, you were telling me about how you had vampires problems," Faith said, idly tossing the stake into the air and catching it.

"Oh, right... and I was telling you how I was just thinking that since all these girls are now Slayers, that maybe this gang of vamps would come across one and..." He halted. "Oh..." He ducked his head, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, right. So, you're a Slayer."

"That's what the tattoo says..."

He smiled then it faded. "C'mon, though, you don't wanna get involved in vampire revenge sitches. You're beyond that."

"Right." Faith rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Maybe you haven't been keeping track, Xander, but that's all I'm about. You want to save the world, go look up B."

"Yeah, kind of beyond that, too..." he couldn't help but murmur. He cut the engine. "Okay, I'll stick around for the night since I'm kind of on the uneasy that they're around here. Plus, you make a pretty good bodyguard if I do say so myself." He reached in the backseat and grabbed his duffelbag.

"You know this ain't gonna be free, right?" Faith asked as she lead him towards the motel.

"You know I'm broke, right?"

Faith laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll run you a tab."


	2. Prologue 2: San Francisco

1Faith had gone out to get food, leaving Xander to take a quick shower and change out of his clothes into new ones. He walked over to the window and glanced out, seeing if any more shadows were moving around. They must've been scared off. He smiled at the thought.

The phone rang, making him almost knock over the lamp near the window. He recovered it quickly and let it ring again. Looking around as if getting permission, he shrugged and picked it up. "Hello?"

There was a brief silence, then "Ah - is Faith there?" and then "Wait - Xander? Xander Harris?"

"Yeah, that's... who is this?" he asked suspiciously. TWO people in one day knowing him? Kind of on the impossibly side.

"It's Robin Wood." Another silent moment. "IS Faith there?"

"Robin... Oh! Principal Wood... ex-Principal Wood." Then he realized what this might sound like, Faith's ex calling and him answering. "Um, Faith isn't here... she's out getting food for us... I mean, for her and me - not us and in 'us.'" He ran his hand through his hair.

"Right. I see." Again, silence. "I... I'll... tell her..." Once more, Robin paused, long enough for the motel room door to swing open as Faith returned bearing a pizza box in one hand and a plastic bag in the other.

Xander glanced over at her, his eye wide in not knowing what to do.

"Hey." She frowned at Xander and the phone. "Who?" she mouthed.

He ran his hand over his head to hopefully indicate baldness then realized THAT wasn't going to work. "Principal Wood," he mouthed back, pointing at the receiver.

"Oh. Hang up," Faith said dully, dropping the pizza on the small table near the TV.

"What?" Xander asked aloud. "I can't do that..." He shook his head, not paying much mind to the other person on the line.

"I can." Faith crossed the room in two quick steps and snatched the phone out of Xander's hand, slamming it down on the receiver. "There. Easy."

He stared at the phone as if it just talked to him and danced around doing the Macarena. "Faith, that was... kind of... how can I say this? Harsh?"

Faith flopped down on the bed. "I don't want to talk to him, or about him. End of story."

"Must've been a big bad, blow your house down break up," he ventured, going for the pizza box. He took a large chunk of the first slice, talking with his mouth full. "And he won't be mad for finding out I'm here, in your room, will he? The guy can fight."

"Not like I can."

"Not going to argue that..." he replied, biting into the slice again.

Faith tore open the plastic bag and pulled out the styrofoam container of chicken wings. She bit into a wing, tearing the meat off the bones, before answering. "Don't worry. He's not the type to get all drunken ex on you."

"Good because I'd give him a really hard... running away. Plus, it's not like he's got anything to be jealous of." He finished up the slice and picked up another one. "So by you staying here, I take it you two DID live together?"

"Yeah." Faith polished off the rest of the wing and most of a second one before elaborating. "Didn't work out. Like you were saying back at the bar, I'm not the 'stay in one place' gal."

"Guessing that you wanted to go and he wants to stay here?" Xander ventured, looking around the room. "Did we get any drinks?"

"That was your job, dude," Faith replied. "Vending machine. And yeah, that about sums it up," Faith added softly, reluctantly.

Xander caught the tone of her voice and decided to back off. He touched his throat. "Okay, vending machine it is," he said, weening away from the subject as quickly as possible. He put the slice down and dug into his pockets for change. "What's your flavor?" he asked by way of asking what she wanted to drink as he headed for the door. He had seen a machine near the lobby doors.

"Cold," Faith said around the sides of another wing.

He blinked at her. "If we get HOT sodas, we're going to have to talk to management..." He shrugged, figuring her for a Mountain Dew girl. He went down one flight of stairs and spotted the vending machine. "Ah, handy in all cities." He put in change and banged on the choices, a cranking sound coming from it - but no soda. "And broken in all cities! That's the fifth time this has happened to - "

He got shoved into it, slamming hard into the metallic cover. He was turned around as a fanged face and three others of the same kind were staring back at him. A fist came towards his face but he ducked easily and it slammed into the machine. He took advantage and rammed his knee into the vampire's stomach.

Wishing he had a stake, he moved around the dazed vampire only to be face to face with the other three. "C'mon, boys, this is getting really old! Look, I said I was sorry, didn't I?" They just growled. He moved to the side but they followed his every move.

Xander glanced over his left shoulder and rushed out the other way out the doors.

Back in the room, Faith alternately stared at the phone and the pizza box. After a minute or two, she muttered and poked her head out into the hallway. "Dammit, Xander, the food's getting cold..."

Another minute after that, she stalked down the hallway and down the stairs just in time to see three figures running across the parking lot, giving chase to - Xander. Fuck.

Faith took off after them, stake in hand.

The three vampires were beginning to catch up to the boy when one of them turned around and saw another figure chasing after them. They all glanced at one another.

"Slow down a bit," one muttered to the other two. "We need him to get to her. This is the only chance we've got." He sped faster while the other two slowed down a little - as distraction. Something along the lines of Japanese kamikazes.

The lone vampire saw Xander round a corner, following after him.

Faith didn't slow down. She charged into the two vampires, tackling them to the ground, ignoring their punches and clawing, and staked one, then the other. They were tougher than the average vamp, but nothing like the Turok-Han had been. Not even enough to get her to break a sweat.

Xander being chased, on the other hand... Faith raced after the last vampire.

The lone vampire walked slowly along the side street near the motel. He sniffed around for the boy, knowing his scent well. Glancing down one narrow alleyway, the vampire moved down it stealthily. Just as he reached the end, a metal trash can slammed into him from behind. "Tag, you're it!" Xander called, yet running back from where he came from.

Just as he reached the entrance again, he slammed into two other vampires. He was knocked down onto his butt, looking up at them, noticing the robes they wore with a sort of symbol on it. "Hey, tag is a game for all," he said, scooting back a bit. The lone vampire grabbed him from behind and lifted him onto his feet, both facing the two new ones.

"She's coming," one robed one said, turning around, waiting.

"Wrong. She's here." Faith jumped down off the fire escape and landed behind the two robed vampires. "Hi." She punched one hard in the face and kicked the other one in the ribs, driving it back into Xander and the vampire holding him.

While those three were distracted, Faith staked the vampire she'd punched, and then turned back to the others.

The vampires and Xander fell back onto one another. He managed to kick the remaining robed one in the mouth but the lone vampire grabbed Xander's neck and pinned him into the concrete floor. "Come any nearer, Slayer, and his neck will be in pieces."

"Um, ouch..." Xander murmured, scrunching him his face.

The remaining robed vampire got to his feet, ribs shattered. "Faith..." he growled. "You will more than nicely cooperate with us."

"Have you read the book, guys?" Xander managed to croak out. "Vampires and Slayers don't cooperate together... well, unless you're Buffy..."

"Xander, shut up," Faith said. "Okay... Let's talk. What do you want?"

"You, my dear," he vampire said, almost politely. "To finish what this boy so rudely interrupted." He kicked him in the ribs. "Because of him, you're the only hope we have to fulfilling the spell."

"What spell?" Faith asked, trying not to look at Xander. They had her over a barrel already; if they got the idea she cared what happened to him...

"You mean that spell you guys were wearing those funny really suspicious-looking robes with?" Xander said.

The one holding him pinned him harder to shut up.

"I'm just saying..."

The robed vampire growled but his eyes landed on the dark Slayer. "Spell of resurrection."

"Oh, no. Resurrection spells are bad, bad news!" Xander announced only to be kicked again. "Shutting up now..."

_Resurrection? Who would these idiots want to bring back_, Faith wondered, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. "Okay... keep talking. What do you want?"

"Agree to come with us, and we'll talk further," the robed one said, gesturing her out of the alleyway.

"Don't do it, Faith," Xander called to her. "Trap is written all over it with Sharpies!"

"Xander, SHUT UP," Faith hissed, then turned back to the lead vampire. "Slow down. We can talk here..."

"No, that's NOT the agreement." He stepped slightly closer to her in annoyance. "You come with us, your friend lives, and we'll call it even."

"Hey, what about me?" Xander asked. "I thought this revenge was ALL about the Xand-man! What happened to that?"

"Now that we have her," the one pinning him down said, nodding to Faith. "We can finish the spell. She's the key to it all, since you ruined the first alternative."

Xander winced, realizing what he had done. "Oh, God..." He struggled underneath the grip. "Forget her! Just slice my throat or-or break my neck! Okay, maybe breaking my neck would go quicker...and be less painful."

"Okay - slow down," Faith repeated, a hint of worry in her voice now. "I'll go, I'll go. Where to?" she asked slowly, wishing she had a shot at the vampire holding Xander. Just another foot closer and she could pull it off. Maybe. "Lead the way."

"Faith! What the hell are you doing?" Xander cried as he was hauled to his feet. "I was throwing myself into the lions! The least you could is - "

"Shut up!" the lone vampire snapped, backhanding Xander across the cheek. He watched as the boy crumpled to the ground. "Should have done that in the first place." He grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder.

The robed one couldn't help but laugh. "You've got a chatterbox for a friend," he told the Slayer as they began to walk. "It might do you good if he was dead."

Faith bit her lip, and held back from pummeling the son of a bitch. She knew vampire reflexes - the other one would break Xander's neck before she could get to him. No choice but to play along for now. She followed them warily.

They led her to a warehouse where a large circle was drawn in the middle and a few other vampires in the same garb were gathered around.

The lone vampire that carried Xander dumped him near a bunch of crates.

Faith surveyed the scene before her, her mind working as to how she was going to get them both out of this. As the symbol came into better few, however, her heart almost stopped. She recognized that symbol like it was branded into her brain.

"Kakistos," she whispered.

The resurrection was to bring him back.

She glared at the vampires all around her. These were his followers, the ones she remembered seeing but not killing while her Watcher suffered. Her hands went into her jacket as the robed vampire shoved her a little closer to the circle.

"So what're you plannin' here fellas?" she asked, noticing they had abandoned Xander.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it Slayer?" the robed leader asked. "The look on your face as you came in told us you know exactly what the plans are." He gestured for two of the vampires to grab her on either side, pushing her closer to the circle.

Xander, meanwhile, slowly opened his eye, regaining consciousness. He lifted his head, fighting back the pain that came with the movement. The scene before him was slowly starting to sink in and since he wasn't even being watched, he knew they had no use for him anymore.

To be the one that's never seen…

He got to his knees, not making any quick movements, partly because it hurt his head to do it. It was similar to what he saw these guys doing before, only they had Faith in their clutches, and they were going to use her in some way.

Only, he wasn't going to allow it.

He got to his feet, grabbing a random broken part of a crate as a makeshift stake and came up behind the nearest vampire, giving a 'here I am!' yell before slamming it through his back. The vampire barely knew what hit him before he was dusted.

Everyone turned to him, and it was then he realized just how many of them were there.

"Uh, boy, there's a few more of you than I thought," he said just as the remaining ones forming the circle got to their feet and ran at him.

The lead vampire grinned, knowing that the Slayer and her friend were outnumbered.

At least until Faith staked one and decapitated the other who was holding her, bringing the odds down to a more manageable level. She grabbed Xander by the collar and plucked him away from the others, then winked.

"How you doin'?" she asked, smiling crazily as the battle lust came over her.

Xander stumbled from being brought to his feet too fast. "Oh, just dandy... you know, if I ignore the searing pain in my head."

"Good," Faith said, winking again and then turning to face the approaching vampires.

He ducked just as one of the remaining vampires tried to deck him. "Gahhh!"

"Xander!" The Slayer grabbed one of the vampires by the neck, twisted hard, and smiled when she heard the familiar SNAP of a broken neck. On to the next one...

"Her blood!" the lone vampire cried. "Just get her blood to fall on the symbol and the spell can be accomplished!" He looked around for something sharp to use.

Faith laughed. "Thanks for clueing me in on the big secret!" she said, shifting her stance slightly to gain some more distance from the symbol. The vampires snarled and charged as one, but she was ready for them. All five went down on top of her... but only Faith got up when it was over.

Bloody and bruised, but grinning. "Xander, you cool?" she asked, looking around for the lead vampire. She was going to take her time with him, for a lot of reasons.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, cool as... cool items can be while not being cool." He smiled, shakily.

The lone vampire had seen all five of his remaining "gang" members bite the dust in a matter of a minute and realized he probably couldn't force the Slayer back on the symbol. Or could he...? He growled and tried for Xander again.

Xander heard something from behind and instinctively lifted his elbow so that the vampire rammed into it. The vamp stumbled from the impact but glared at him.

"Um, sorry about that," Xander said with a mock sheepish smile.

"I'm going to KILL you, boy."

"There's just a slight problem with that theory," Faith said, smiling politely at the vampire.

He narrowed his eyes at the Slayer, still rubbing the place on his face where Xander's elbow connected. "Why's that, bitch?"

Faith laughed. "You're dead," she said, then tossed the knife at his face.

The trajectory of the knife was also heading towards Xander's face and his eyes widened. "Ahhh!"

Even before it hit, she was in motion, grabbing Xander and pulling him away with one hand, and thrusting her stake through the vampire's heart with the other. "See? Problem."

The lone vampire growled before he burst into dust, causing the echoey warehouse to grow silent for a moment.

Xander had his hand over his chest. "Jesus, you think next time you do that, you yell 'duck!' or something along those lines?"

"Sorry, Xander. But if I had said 'duck', it kinda woulda ruined the surprise, ya know?"

He looked down at the symbol and then all around them. "What's up with this anyway?"

"You remember that big fucker of a vampire that followed me to Sunnydale when I first came there?"

"Um, not really, no," he admitted. "All I remember is your alligator story..."

"Well, these idiots were trying to bring him back." Faith stared at the symbol, and then spat at it.

His brows rose up into his forehead. "Oh. Wow, Faith, I'm sorry..." He then remembered some conversation afterwards. "Actually, Buffy kind of told me and Will about... stuff. But I never met the guy or anything. Something about a large beam to kill him?"

Faith nodded, not taking her eyes off the glyph carved into the floor. "Yeah. Ancient history, though. Let's get out of here."

He nodded. "Yeah, okay." He looked once more at the symbol and wondered if there were more of them. All they would need would be the symbol and Faith. It was unsettling at the least.

As they walked back out into the night, he looked over at her. "I owe us some sodas, don't I?"

"Hell yeah. And they better be cold ones, too," Faith said with a tension-relieving laugh.

Xander woke up with a start on the floor of the hotel room. Faith had said it was okay for him to share the bed with her, but it was after-battle and she had eaten like a pig. He just didn't want to go there. No, wait - he didn't think they NEEDED to go there in case that's where she had wanted to go.

Groggily, he got to his feet, stumbling over his duffel bag. "Shhh," he said to himself warily. He went quietly into the bathroom and showed and dressed. After 15 minutes, he emerged from it, tip-toeing across the room. He looked over at Faith, looking so peaceful in her sleep. Like she couldn't hurt a fly... okay, maybe not even in her sleep could she look THAT innocent.

He slowly came up to the bedside and reached out and shook her. "Faith?"

"Mmhfm?" Faith asked into her pillow. She shook herself awake. "Hey. Ow. What time is it?" she asked Xander, squinting a bit and rubbing at the crease lines on her face.

Xander looked at the clock. "Kinda before noon," he answered, smiling. "I'm taking off."

"Early..." Faith shook her head. "Oh - you're leaving?" she repeated dully then shrugged to cover it. "All right. Any idea where you're heading? You ought to check out Mexico. Tijuana. You'd dig it."

"I was thinking about going there," Xander said. "But I'm just taking my time. I'll probably go see the Grand Canyon or hit Vegas with the non-money I have."

"Vegas! I love Vegas." Faith smiled for a second then cast about for her t-shirt.

He looked at her then looked away. "Um, remember how you keep saying your an 'always on the go gal'?"

Faith looked up. "Yeah..."

Hesitating, he looked out the window, wondering if his next words would cause a laugh in his face. "Maybe... you'd like to, I don't know, be my traveling buddy?"

"Traveling buddy," Faith repeated then shrugged. "All right."

"All right?" he asked, surprised. "Don't you want to follow that up with a 'no, what the hell are you thinking?'"

Faith grinned. "I could if you wanted me to... No, really. For now. Not making any promises here, though."

He stood up straight, watching her. "Um, not really asking for any. If you want me to drop you off somewhere, you just say the word and you can be on your merry way."

"Deal. Now let's get the hell out of here," Faith said. "I don't know about you, but I'm sick of California."


	3. Story Two: Mexico

**STORY TWO : MEXICO, THE DAY OF THE DEAD**

"I'm so sick of Mexico," Faith muttered to herself as she climbed up the rocky slope, trying hard to ignore the bugs that shared the hillside with her.

From the opposite side of the hill, Faith could hear low chanting in Spanish. She had no idea what was being chanted - her knowledge of Spanish began and ended with "Hasta la vista" - but she was sure it wasn't good.

Perhaps on account of the black-robed figures who were doing the chanting.

Faith climbed the last stretch of hillside and then peered down into the barren little valley. There were five cultists all gathered around a stone pillar. Five cultists, and about twenty ordinary people with glassy eyes and dull expressions.

She wracked her brain, trying to think of the right term for the dupes - possessed was close enough for her.

More important was the fact that Xander was one of them.

Most important of all, though, was the fact the rest of Mexico and, hell, who knows, maybe the world, would follow suit in about ten minutes. The ones who didn't get possessed would just get haunted by a million fresh-from-the-beyond ghosts.

Unless, of course, ass was kicked.

Faith grinned. "Yo! Amigos!" she yelled, standing up and waving at the cultists below. "Come out and play!"

The five people in robes looked up from their center of attention which was the pillar. They saw the small, lone figure up the hill and looked at each other.

"Send some of them after her," one cultist said to another in Spanish. "She cannot disrupt this; this is the only day that we can accomplish this."

The second cultist nodded and raised her arms up. Chanting in a language that far predated Spanish in these lands, she gestured at Faith. Moving as one, the possessed Mexicans (and Xander) began to lurch towards the Slayer.

Faith stared at the horde. "Shit." She took off running down the hill, towards the pillar and the cultists, and used the two locals at the front of the pack as a springboard. She landed behind the mob and close to the ghost talker.

"Hi." Faith smiled sunningly and then slammed her fist into the woman's face. She was pretty sure the woman's nose was broken. Even if not, it took her out of the fight.

"Get her!" one of the other cultists yelled, pointing at Faith and screaming at the top of his lungs. "GET HER!"

"Enchant the followers with more of the evil spirits," the first cultist said, trying to find a way to keep going now with one of them down for the count.

More chanting from two remaining ones as they backed away from the Slayer.

A few of the followers' eyes glowed red and they became more aggressive. They tore their way through the crowd, Xander in the lead. He broke away from the even smaller crowd and tackled Faith to the ground, trying to hold her down as the rest of the more aggressive ones closed in.

"Sorry about this, Xander," Faith said just before kicking him in the gut and pushing him off. She didn't have time to waste fighting the flunkies. Jumping up, Faith grabbed another possession victim and hurled him at the cultists. One of them went down, and Faith pummeled a second one a few times until he was out cold.

Two left. Faith smiled and wagged her finger between the two of them for a few seconds. Amazingly, one broke and ran, leaving the leader alone.

"All right!" Faith lunged at him, grabbing him by the throat. "Here's where you undo the spell," she said, smiling even as she squeezed his neck a little.

The leader felt his throat constrict under her grip. He attempted to pry her hand off of his throat. "I... don't think so, senorita. We must finish this tonight, and ... I will not let you stop me."

"Don't see how you - ah!"

Xander had gotten up, a nice-sized rock in his hand that he brought down on Faith's head.

Faith went down in a heap, blood streaming down the back of her head. "Ow... fucker," she moaned as two of the Mexicans hauled her back up to her feet.

"See? I told you I would not let you stop me," the cult leader said with a sneer. "Hold her," he commanded the others, then turned back to the pillar and began chanting in the same language his unconscious friend had been earlier. As he did, the air around the stone pillar began to ripple, as above asphalt on a hot day.

Then, without any fanfare, a rift suddenly appeared - a long, jagged tear that spilled dim light and grey fog.

Faith struggled against the Mexicans holding her and, somehow, managed to break free. She jumped at the cultist and knocked him to the ground.

"Ah! You're stronger than you look," the man said. "But what are you going to do now? The gate is open."

"So I close it," Faith countered.

The man smiled pleasantly. "You don't know how!"

"So tell me," Faith replied, digging the heel of her boots into his own personal nether region.

"Death! Only death can stop death!" the man moaned.

"Fuck." Faith stared down at the man, back at the rapidly approaching mob of Mexicans-and-Xander, and then sighed. "Fuck," she repeated, grabbing the cult leader and lifting him up to his feet.

"Fuck," she said one last time, just before snapping his neck and hurling him at the rift.

The rift shimmered, a burst of light coming from it, before sucking into itself and the dead cultist with it. Then all was quiet.

Even the mob... until they began murmuring in confusion.

Xander blinked then realized he had a rock in his hand. He stared at it, seeing the blood on it. "Um... what am I doing with a bleeding rock?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Bashing my brains in," Faith muttered, her eyes fixed on the spot where the rift had been.

"Bashing your...?" Xander looked at her in confusion then realized where the blood came from. Not the rock, that was obvious. He dropped it as if it had shocked him. "Oh... huh? How... why?"

"Ghosts got you. You okay? Not feeling dead inside still?" she asked tiredly.

"Um, no... was I complaining about feeling dead inside before?" He looked around with his one eye. "Where are we?" Then he noticed her and the blood stains on her shirt. "I did that?"

"Yeah. Didn't know you had it in you." Faith tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. "Let's get going," she said, still staring at the empty air, then down at her hands. "You still owe me a margarita, X-Man."

Xander reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, making her face him. "Whoa, whoa... hold on there. What happened exactly? We were in the city, last I remember. Celebrating... the dead or whatever, and now I'm on the hillside hitting you with a rock and with about fifty other people." He noticed the four robed figures. "Who are these jokers?"

"Just some asshats trying to bring the dead to Earth," Faith replied. "The rest of it can wait. I need a drink or three," she said, shrugging Xander off and heading up the hill. It was a good three miles to Veracruz, after all.

Xander watched her walk away, recognizing the beginnings of closing him off. He hadn't really seen it during their time together on the road; then again, it had been smooth sailing and non-demon duties - apparently until now. _Knew we should've left when we found out about what this day in Mexico was_. He glanced over at the pillar then the robed figures, sighing. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and finally followed after the Slayer.

Later on that night, they were sitting at a local dance club. Xander had a drink in his hand and was just enjoying the scenery of bikinied girls dancing around the pool as loud music blared from a speaker.

"Enjoying the view?" Faith asked, watching Xander watch the girls over her margarita.

"Oh, yeah... there's just something about Mexico that brings out the best in girls in bikinis," he commented, entranced. "This whole Day of the Dead thing isn't so scary when THIS is how they celebrate."

"Mmm, I hear that," Faith said. Then, to change the subject, "So where next?"

He was still very much looking at the other girls when he realized he was being spoken to. He turned towards her. "Huh? Oh, I don't know... what's nearby? Are we crossing over the border again? Maybe Texas?"

"Texas... sounds good to me," Faith said agreeably. Although she had an itch to head North now... away from all this heat, away from anything that reminded her of Sunnydale. Boston. Hell, even Cleveland. She was about to suggest it when one girl slinked her way towards them and came up to Xander. "Hey there, muchacho."

Xander almost choked on his drink as he saw who had talked to him. "Oh... hola, muchacha," he said randomly picking words that sounded Spanish to him.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Me? Dance? Yeah, sure..." He looked over at Faith and grinned. "You wanna join us?"

"No, no," the girl said. "It's only a fiesta for two." She gave Faith a sneer, hidden from Xander, and pulled at him.

Faith glared in annoyance as Chica (as Faith thought of her) hauled Xander away. _So much for the travel planning..._ She glanced around the club, and smiled at the nearest man. _He'll do,_ Faith decided, smiling and beckoning him over.

Xander found himself in the middle of the dance floor, trying his best to keep up with the girl's hips. His eyes surely were following them. "Um, so... you come here often?"

Chica (as Faith thought of her) seductively looked up at him. "I do come often..." she whispered, leaning towards him. "What happened?" Her finger lightly touched his eye patch.

"Oh, cat fight," he said with a grin, almost mesmerized by her eyes. He found her leaning in a little towards him, singing the song that they were dancing to. "You have a... nice voice." He was staring over her shoulder, looking over at Faith a moment and seeing her motioning for a guy. For a moment, Xander's face fell.

Faith stared over at Xander for a second, regretting her impulsive come-hither gesture, but it was too late. The guy was standing right next to her now.

"Hola," he said, smiling cheerfully at Faith.

_Fuck it. Xander's a big boy,_ Faith thought, rising from her seat and thrusting herself at the stranger. "Let's dance..."

"Hector. My name is Hector," he informed her, grinning at her boldness.

Xander snapped out of it when the guy couldn't resist her beckoning call - and he couldn't blame him. _Lucky guy,_ he thought as he returned back to the very pretty girl in front of him. Well, might as well enjoy what he actually COULD have. She was still singing a song in his ear.

"C'mon, senor," the girl whispered. "I'm tired dancing. Let's go to my hotel room, have us a drink." She ran her finger over his eye patch again and down his cheek.

"Ohhh... um, actually, I'm not staying long. Going back on the road soon." He looked over at Faith. _Or maybe not..._

Faith saw the girl pawing Xander's face and shook her head. _Fuck it, _she thought again. "So, Hector... what do you people do for fun around here?" she asked him, practically straddling the man.

Hector was very much enjoying the proximity of the girl. "I do lots of things, senorita. I know a place on one of the cliffs nearby we could go to." He glanced back at the boy he had noticed her with. "But, um, aren't you with him?"

"Him? Forget it. He's got a new friend... and so do I."

Hector grinned. "Okay, just thought the two of you were together." He held out his hand. "Come, then, senorita. Let's go somewhere by ourselves."

Across the floor, the girl smiled at Xander. "Soon... but not now?" she asked softly.

Xander glanced back at her. "Um, well... I don't know," he said with hesitation. "I mean, it would be fun... and you're... nice and... pretty. Gorgeous even. But we just met."

"So? Come with me. We'll have a good time," she assured him with a wink.

"Why don't I go tell my... um, friend over there first..." Xander offered, though when he looked over towards Faith, the guy was offering his hand to her. "Hey, does the guy have a license for that move?" he cried out of habit.

"Shhh..." The girl spun Xander around. "Are you dancing with me, or with her?" she asked bluntly.

"Um, well... you." Xander couldn't help but look over at his 'traveling buddy' again.

"Let's go," Faith said, taking Hector's hand and following him towards the club's exit.

Hector had no choice but to let himself be led out of the club. He pointed towards his small car. "That's mine, chica." He opened the door for her.

When Xander saw Faith leave, he looked over at the girl smiling. "Well, I'm game for some fun. So what else do you do on this Day of the Dead anyway?"

The girl just laughed and wrapped her arms around Xander's waist. "I could show you..."

Xander nodded. "Let's go then, chica... oh, by the way, what IS your name?" he asked as they exited the club. Was he actually leaving a club with a GIRL at his arm?

"Call me Ana," she replied, leading him down the sidewalk.

"Oh, okay... Ana..."

"He's got a CAR?" he murmured. "A car much nicer than mine." He directed Ana towards his own car. "Not a luxury vehicle, but it'll get us to where we're going."

Further up the street, Faith gave the tiny BMW an appreciative whistle. "Nice wheels," she said as she slipped into the passenger seat.

Hector grinned. "Gracias." He closed the door when she was seated and got behind the wheel and started it up. As they drove away, he looked over at Faith. "I can sing you a song when we get up there, seniorita. How does that sound?"

"A song? Not really what I had in mind..."

"Are you not into songs? It can be quite romantic, you know." He snaked his hand over onto her leg. "Make you do the craziest things, and you seem like the type who likes crazy."

Faith grinned and squeezed his hand. "You bet... but why don't you keep both hands on the wheel, hotshot," she said, moving his hand back up. "Rather not end the day slamming through the windshield."

Hector frowned a little, especially when the girl pushed his hand back and he wasn't really able to push back. He gave in and put both hands on the wheel. "I'm an excellent driver, senorita. And an excellent singer." The road became less inhabited by cars as they approached a cliff above the water crashing below. He stopped the car and looked over at her. "What's your name?"

"Faith," she replied absently, staring out at the water. _What the hell am I even doing?_

Hector leaned towards her. "Faith. Pretty name..." He began to hum a small tune that they had heard at the club, leaning in more towards Faith in the process. "Tell me what you do, Faith," he whispered, his lips inches from her ear. After taking for a moment, he resumed his humming.

Faith couldn't help but smile, even as a slightly dazed look appeared on her face. "So... now what do we do?" she asked Hector.

He leaned back, still humming the tune until he spoke again. "You slay the demons, don't you? You're one of them."

"I am?" Faith frowned thoughtfully. Was that right? It seemed right. "Oh."

"You are..." He let his finger lightly slide down her arm. "And you will do something for me. I need an artifact from an old friend of mine."

"I will... what artifact?" she asked dully.

"You don't need to know the facts, senorita." He pointed past her, towards a cave down a slope. There was flickering of light coming from within. "They are there. A few demons and a few humans working together are there to obtain this artifact and sell it on the black market. You will go there and retrieve it." He reached over and took her by the chin, making her face him. "Do you understand?" He hummed a few more bars before gently kissing her.

"Yeah, got it." Faith smiled genially and then got out of the car. She made her way down the slope and to the edge of the cave. Peering inside, she saw the group Hector had told her about: three demons and half dozen humans. The humans were digging, the demons were watching and, occasionally, yelling. Faith couldn't see what they were digging at from her current vantage point, so she strolled deeper into the cave.

Meanwhile, Xander had turned the car around so that they were heading in the direction Faith and Stranger Guy were headed. He had told Ana that this direction just felt more fun, even though he just wanted to see if the guy was making the moves on his 'traveling buddy.' He saw the car parked in the distance and slid off the side of the road.

Ana just stared at Xander, waiting for him to say something.

"Hey, let's hang out here a moment, okay?" That's when he spotted a figure moving away from the car towards another destination. "Faith?" Xander whispered.

In the cave, the demons stood around the hole that was being dug out. "Almost done, you puny humans! The artifact is only a few feet further down."

"Si, senor," one human said with a nod, wiping his brow. "This better be worth all the trouble you're making us go through."

"Shut your trap, Alex," the lead demon snapped. "You'll all be rich when this is all over. So keep digging!"

"Uh, stay right there, Ana," Xander said, getting out of the car and heading towards the cave he saw Faith disappear into. He crept up ways behind her.

Faith stood there, watching silently, until one of the diggers exclaimed "Ah! Eureka!" and held something up. It looked like a brass statue with one ugly-ass cat head.

"I'll take that," Faith said, stepping forward into the circle of torch light.

The human digger looked over at the girl. "Hey! Who the hell are you?" He held it away from her as the demons and other humans began to close in on the intruder.

"Faith. Faith the Vampire Slayer. Give me the idol," she commanded in a flat tone.

_What the hell is Faith DOING?_ Xander wondered as he hid behind a small jut in the cave wall.

"Give it to me NOW," Faith ordered.

Xander took a deep breath and rushed over towards her. "Uh, whoa, there..." He smiled at the ones looking back at him. "Hi. My friend and I were just leaving." He took her by the shoulders and tried to pull her in the direction of the door.

"No! I need it!" Faith exclaimed, roughly shoving Xander away and resuming her advance on the statue. "He needs it!"

Xander slammed into the floor of the cave, dazed from Faith's action. "Wha...?" He shook his head clear. "**HE**?"

Without another word - they'd had their chance - Faith charged at the demons and their human friends, aiming for the statue.

The one holding the artifact tossed it to the nearest demon.

Xander got to his feet. "Faith! What the heck are you doing?" he called to her. What was she trying to get for someone? Obviously, the thing being tossed around out of her reach. "Faith! Whatever it is, for WHOever it is, um... can you let me in the secret?"

The demon, who now held the artifact, stood there looking around, unable to decide where to go. "She's a girl! Just attack her!"

The humans came running at her with their shovels in hand.

Faith, a blank look on her face, quickly disposed of the humans - in a brutal (even by her

old standards) fashion. Once they were down, she turned to the demons, shovel in hand. "Give me the artifact," she said dully. "Or die."

Xander winced at how easily and harshly Faith stopped the human guys. He gulped, wondering if HE should take that chance. But this... this wasn't Faith. Maybe a few years ago, it was something he wouldn't be surprised about. "I think maybe you should give it to her!"

The demon growled, holding it close to him. "No. It is ours, and no one shall take it away." He threw it at the nearest demon to the door, but Xander reached up and grabbed it out of the air.

He looked at it a moment in surprise that he had caught it then looked up at everyone looking back at him. "Oh..." He turned and ran.

Faith watched the statue sail through the air and land in Xander's hands. She turned and ran after him, easily catching up with Xander.

"Give it to me!" she demanded, wrapping one hand around his throat.

Xander knew he was in deep, deep dog poo once Faith caught up to him. He was sort of cheering on the demons. He looked at her, seeing the slightly crazed look in her eyes. However, he held the statue as high as he could, using his height to his advantage. "Faith! Stop! C'mon, what's going on here? It's me! It's Xander! Who needs this besides you? I'll-I'll take it to him. Show me where he is!"

Faith frowned and let go. "All right. Up that way," she said in the same dull monotone, pointing up at where Hector had parked. "Hurry or you die."

Xander let out a breath, rubbing his throat. "Okay, I think you're emphasizing too much on the 'you die' theme, Faith," he said, trying to smile. What was she under? Well, he was about to find out. He followed the way that she was pointing and saw the car up ahead with a guy standing outside of it, waiting in the moonlight. As Xander drew nearer, he could hear him humming something. "Hi there," he said with a grin.

Hector eyed Xander. "You. What are you doing here, senor?"

"Oh, you know...finding weird caves, seeing my friend get all spell-bound." He held up the artifact. "And I'm thinking you need this."

"What - " Hector frowned, eyeing the artifact and Xander suspiciously. "Yes," he said, smiling politely. "Please give it to me."

"Give it to him or die," Faith added.

Xander turned towards Faith. "Still not leaving that theme anytime soon, are you?" He glanced back towards the guy, recognizing him as the one Faith left the club with. _I knew he was evil!_ he thought with a hint of jealousy. "Okay, so, I have something YOU want and you have something I want. How about we make a trade/deal-type thing?"

"You seem to be mistaken, my young friend. I could have her kill you and take what's mine before you even knew what was happening," Hector said slowly. "So why not just give it over and walk away with your life?"

_Okay, that doesn't sound like the good scenario._ He glanced slightly nervously at Faith then over back towards the guy. "Um, how do you know that? She's just a wimpy, little girl with slow reflexes."

Hector rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid, little man. We both know what she really is."

As Xander spoke, he was inching a little closer to the guy and further away from Faith, clutching the statue at the bottom. "Maybe by the time you THINK she'll get me, I'll have this statue thrown off the cliff." He nodded towards the open space where the land dropped off.

"If you do, you'll die, and so will she," Hector replied. "Don't be a fool. Give. Me. The.

Statue."

"Or die."

Xander looked from the guy back to Faith then over towards the cliff. "This whole 'dying' thing is making me pretty queasy..." He held the artifact. "But I think if it's THAT important to you, you actually WOULD care if I did this!" He cocked his arm back and let it loose over the cliff.

The rest of the demons from the cave finally caught up to them, seeing the statue sail over the cliff.

"Ahhh, no!" one of them cried.

Hector snarled. "Get it!" he yelled.

Faith didn't need any more prompting. She broke into a run and dove off the cliff, disappearing into the waters below.

Xander's eyes widened at Faith's action. "FAITH!" he cried. God, what had he done? He didn't think she would actually go after it!

Hector smiled at Xander. "Well. How do you feel now?" he asked with a laugh.

He looked over at him with anger. "I feel like doing this!" He punched him straight in the face before going towards the edge, trying to find Faith below. "Faith!" But it was too dark, and the water crashed all around the jagged rocks. "Oh, God..."

"Happy now, gringo?" Hector asked, sneering at Xander. "This changes nothing. The statue will survive... unlike your friend."

Xander clenched his fists and his jaw. He looked over at the guy, furious. Standing up, he ran at him and knocked him down, hitting him once, twice in the face.

"Get off me, you idiot!" Hector kicked Xander in the stomach then shoved him away. "You stupid Americans... why don't you just go jump off the cliff like your friend and save me the trouble?"

Xander landed on his back but he got right on him. He looked behind him and saw the other demons from the cave edging in on him. "Oh, no..."

"You stupid human!" the lead on cried. "You threw away what we've been finding for weeks!"

"See? You've made everyone mad at you," Hector said with a smirk.

Xander looked back at Hector and realized how trapped he was. The only way out of this was his car. He saw the opening between the two adversaries and took off. His chest was heavy as he ran, but he refused to give into it. Just get to the car.

Halfway up, Xander almost literally ran into Ana. The Mexican girl, scowling, stepped back.

"What - what is going ON?" she demanded, eyeing him suspiciously. Then she looked past him and saw the demons. "Ah¡Lo sabía¡USTED es el sireno!"

Ana then proceeded to smash Xander in the jaw.

Xander fell over, almost knocked unconscious. "Ow! What was that about?" That really hurt, too. "Run! Uh, big ugly-looking people are coming up here! Get into the car!"

"¡Idiota! Sé cuáles usted es." Ana sneered and then punched Xander again, then stopped before delivering the knock-out blow. "Los demonios... they want to kill you?" she asked him warily.

Xander was seeing stars, not understanding anything she was saying... not even her English for that matter. "I think they want to kill me... I want to kill them," he muttered at the end.

"Que?" Ana frowned down at him, then looked over at the demons and Hector. "Mierda."

Hector and the other demons closed in on them. "Kill the girl, too!"

"Are you telling us what to do?" the lead demon asked.

Hector's eyes glowed red. "She's in the way; we just want to make sure this boy doesn't try and ruin us again." They closed in on them, Xander still dazed from Ana's attack.

Ana shoved Xander aside and waded into the fray with the two demons. They all tumbled to the ground, kicking, clawing, grunting and screaming, but after a few seconds, Ana got to her feet. She wiped blood, red and green alike, off her forehead, and then turned to Hector. "Ahora es su vuelta," she said, pointing at him with a hand covered with thick green blood.

The siren paled just a bit. "Odio Slayers," he muttered, raising his own hands, from which sharp claws now jutted. He charged Ana, jumping over Xander, and the two met in vicious battle.

Once again, Ana prevailed in the end, but only after suffering a few nasty cuts on her face and arms.

When Hector's broken body finally collapsed, Ana turned to Xander. "Y ahora es SU vuelta," she said, heading over to him.

"You're a...?" Xander asked, awed by her display of defeating ALL the demons. "Oh, well, very convenient 'cause demons, they like to try and kill me." He saw her coming towards him, not sure about the look on her face. "Uh, you're going to take me back, right?"

"You're kidding, right?" Ana asked, giving him a contemptuous look. "I don't care who was trying to kill who, you're all demons," she said, clenching her fists.

"We're all...? Huh?" Xander was really confused now. Then he saw the murderous look in her eyes. "Oh, wait - you think I'm... oh, no. I'm not!"

"Be quiet, demon. I'm very tired. But I will - "

"Hey. Bitch. Back. Off."

Xander looked behind Ana and saw a figure standing there, dripping wet. "F-Faith?" He couldn't believe it...

Ana ducked and turned in a lightning-fast motion, then stopped. "You - you're alive!" she

exclaimed, staring at Faith in shock.

"Fuck yeah. And if you don't get away from him, that's more than we'll be able to say about you in a minute."

"He's a demon," Ana snapped, falling into a defensive stance. "And by watching you, I would think you're also one. You were helping the others..." She shot out a fist to connect with Faith's face.

Faith easily caught the blow. "You had too many margaritas if you think I'm a demon," she replied, more annoyed than angry now that she was the target instead of Xander. "That freak put a spell on me," Faith said, dodging another punch and kicking Ana, intending to drive her back.

"That doesn't mean you weren't after the idol!" Ana countered, kicking Faith in the face.

"I'm a Slayer, you moron!"

Ana stopped. "You? You are?"

Faith almost laughed. "YES! For fuck's sake. Faith the Vampire Slayer."

"Oh. OH! I have heard of you. La puta..." Ana frowned. "Sorry. I didn't know."

_Puta? I think I want to kick her ass again..._ "Forget it. Xander, you okay?" Faith asked, kneeling down next to him.

He couldn't believe who he was seeing. Granted, she stunk of the ocean, but she was here. "Faith... yeah, I'm okay... now." He smiled. "Can I pinch you?"

Faith smirked. "I'm not THAT happy to see you," she said, helping him to his feet. "Damn. You look as crappy as I feel." She glanced over at Ana. These dime-a-dozen Brand New Slayers weren't anywhere near to B's level, but they could still do some damage. "I think this is the part where we ride off into the sunset or something."

"It's night time... sun's already gone," Xander commented.

"Whatever." Faith shrugged. "It's a metaphor."

He looked over at Ana, still feeling the aches she had delivered to him. "Ouch. A Slayer, huh? I was wondering if we were going to run into one of you guys." He smiled. "Xander. Xander Harris." He put his hand out. "Which I may have forgotten to tell you when we were dancing back at the club."

Ana shook her head, and his hand. "Ana Maria Sanchez de Branco y Linares," she said, bowing formally.

"Whoa... sorry I asked," he said, already charmed by her name. "Well, I guess I didn't..."

"I have heard of you, too," she added with a smile.

He grinned widely, shaking her hand even more. "You have? You've heard of me?" He looked at Faith. "Did you hear that? She's heard of me."

The older Slayer rolled her eyes. "I heard."

He looked back at Ana. "What have you heard about me, exactly?"

Ana just smiled at him, then made a show of yawning. "I think it's very late..."

He raised his brows. "Huh? Oh c'mon. You're a Slayer! A very good one, in fact... well, except in the honing in on demon skills. You're supposed to stay up late."

Ana and Faith exchanged glances over Xander's shoulder, and the Mexican Slayer nodded and then yawned again.

He pursed his lips together. "No heroic stories of my run about with the original Slayer? And I'm only talking about the Buffster..." He scrunched up his nose. "Man, what is that nasty fish smel..." He looked over at Faith. "Oh."

"I need a shower. And no, you can't watch," Faith muttered with a smile. "Let's go."

"I wasn't going to ask if I can watch," Xander said, glancing over at Ana giving her a 'I don't know what she's talking about' look. He leaned more towards Faith. "Was that an option?" He got a little too near and moved his head back. "Yikes. Even if it was, I don't think I'd have the stomach for it."

He paused.

"I mean 'cause of the SMELL. Not 'cause I think you'd look bad in the shower, because you so don't. Uh, not that I've seen it...all." He raised his brows in worry. "Oh, man, let's go..."


	4. Story Three: Las Vegas

**STORY THREE: VIVA LAS VEGAS**

Xander Harris watched over the roulette table, holding onto the few bills he had in his pocket. He was silently cheering on the ball as it went round and round. "C'mon lucky 8. Lady in red, lady in red..." The wheel slowed down, the ball bouncing around erratically at first, then it slowed down.

Xander reached up on his tippy-toes as everyone around him was also leaning in with apprehension.

Black 13.

Some people cheered, but Xander moaned with the other losers. He watched as his chips went away. "Oh, crap," he murmured. He was supposed to use that money to buy him and Faith dinner, Faith's orders. But the table was right there and he couldn't help it. He patted his pockets, realizing he had no money left to make up for what he lost. He glanced at the money in his hands. "Whopping $15? Eeks." Knowing the only way he could make up for it was to WIN more money... he glanced at the table, the wheels in his head turning.

"Fifteen bucks, huh? Move over, Maverick," Faith said into Xander's ear.

Xander jumped a little. "Oh, Faith... uh... yeah, no Maverick or else I'd have $15,000 instead of 15 bucks." But he moved over for her, grinning as she joined the table. Las Vegas could make anyone and anything hot and sexy; that being the case, Xander thought Faith was Vegas, humanized. He shook out of those thoughts.

She smiled at him. "Not your night, huh, hotshot?"

Xander shook his head. "Nope. Definitely not. Why, do you have a trick to this game?"

"Yeah, don't lose." Faith shook her head. "Wanna try the slots instead?" she suggested, eyeing the meager amount of money. It was just enough to cover them at McDonald's, but that was about it. "Or do you think maybe we should eat something that's not stale candy for dinner?"

Xander glanced at the literal pocket change they had in his hands. "Uh, maybe we should eat a little something more. This body can't handle just little things..." He put his hand over his stomach. "But hey, I lost a lot of weight." He pointed in the direction of the casino. "I think there's a little cafe over there near that big Egyptian thing. My treat... with your money." He grinned.

"One day you gotta remind me what I'm getting out of this deal," Faith said with a quick, slightly nervous laugh. She turned away, apparently to scan the rest of the casino. "All right. The Luxor... I ever tell you 'bout the time I killed a zombie in the ladies room there?"

"No," he said, though he picked up on her reaction to their sparseness that was money. They would have to find something very soon that would bring a little money in. "But out of all the hotels we started with, we had to pick an Egyptian one?"

"Why? Got something against Egypt?" Faith asked, grinning now.

"Well, not the country itself..." he answered.

"Well?"

They neared the entrance to a new exhibit/wing of the hotel. Xander looked up at the two large pillars that reached all the way to the ceiling. "I hate things Egyptian."

"You do? What happened? A mummy eat your puppy?"

Xander looked over at her. "Actually, more like mummy almost ate my face. Or, at least... nevermind, boring, yawn-worthy story." He took her by the elbow and tried to lead her away from the exhibit. "Look, they have roast beast sandwiches!"

"Um, right, back to the part where a mummy almost ate your face? This is a Sunnydale thing, isn't it?" Faith asked, then shook her head. Of course it was. "Roast beast? You're losing your mind, Xander."

"It's a Buffy..ism, thingy," Xander said, realizing he had a slight inflection at the mention of the other Slayer's name. But he recovered. "Either way, it's a big, hunk of meat which I'm all for!"

Faith shook her head. She hadn't missed his tripping over Buffy's name.

A guy in a mummy suit came up behind Xander, tapping him on the shoulder. "You two should look at the new exhib - "

Xander turned and yelped. "Yah!" He stumbled back a little at the sight of the wrapped figure.

"Jesus, Xander, chill out. Get over the mummy issues." Faith smiled at the casino employee. "Hard day at the slots," she explained, earning an understanding nod and a sympathetic smile from the guy in the mummy suit. "So what's the deal on the new exhibit?"

The mummy guy pointed back into the exhibit entrance as Xander tried to compose himself. "The hotel brought in some heavy duty display from real Egyptian pyramids. It's pretty cool, and only free for tonight. But you get free dinner at our buffet if you go in now." He smiled at Faith. "Ditch the guy, and you can have dinner with a real mummy guy."

Faith smirked. _Oh, yeah, just what I always wanted._

"Hey!" Xander said, putting his arm between the two. "Who wants to date a mummy anyway?" He paused. "I mean, besides... nevermind again. We're not interested."

"Free food, Xander. I'm interested," Faith said pointedly. "Come on." She grabbed his hand.

Xander frowned, attempting to pull back. "Is there a REAL mummy in here?" he asked the employee.

The guy smiled. "It's the best part of the exhibit."

"Faith, I really don't think this is worth the good food." He was still trying to get his hand back, not that contact with her was unfun. "I mean, that mummy guy just hit on you! Not exactly giving off 'trust me, it's fun' vibes."

"What, you'd be happier if guys stopped hitting on me?" Faith asked. "This is Vegas, Xander, that's what guys do. C'mon, quit being such a sissy."

She continued to pull him towards the exhibit.

Actually, he would be VERY happy if guys stopped hitting on her. Especially taller, more handsome guys with jobs. But he had to give in and just follow behind Faith, noticing they were still holding hands. "Um, you can let go. I'm not gonna run, promise." He smiled.

"All right. Wouldn't do you any good anyway." Faith winked at him.

He looked around at the displays behind the glass, seeing pieces of different Egyptian pottery, walls, even papyrus with hieroglyphics scrawled all over them. He stopped at one, actually finding it really interesting. "Giles would have a British/Watcher party in here."

They approached the end of the exhibit where there were a few people looking at the object lit under the spotlights. It was the mummy, propped up in its casket.

Xander cringed. "And now we come to the 'gosh, darn, I wished I missed this' part of the tour..."

"Dude, the thing's been dead for three thousand years. Chill out." Faith stared at the mummy for a few seconds then turned to see where the buffet was.

Xander just stared at the mummy, wanting his eyes to move away. _Remember Ampata. Oh, but she was cute before she turned to dust..._ Then something flickered in the light. Or was it light? "Uh... I think I just saw his arm move," he whispered to Faith, stepping back a little.

"Dude, knock it off," Faith said tiredly. She turned and frowned. Xander was right. The mummy's arm was twitching. _God. Even in fuckin' Vegas._ "Stakes won't do much good against these things, will they?"

"So I wasn't just seeing things, then," Xander said, stepping behind Faith. "And last time I came across one of those, we just didn't let it suck my life out and it kinda crumbled."

"All right. I think I can handle that."

The mummy began to move a little more, and more people began to notice. They all glanced at one another trying to size up the situation, some thinking it was part of the exhibit.

The mummy suddenly let out a burst of power and shattered the glass casing it was in.

People began to react by screaming and some began to run.

Xander tried to shield them both from the glass. "Run!" he told the people, gesturing to them as the mummy began to step off its display podium. "Do you think mummies are scary NOW?"

Faith yawned theatrically. "Gonna take more than that, X-Man," she replied. She ran up to the mummy. "Hi!" she said, then slugged it in the jaw - the desiccated flesh crumbled under her blow, but the mummy didn't seem to mind all that much. It hit her back, sending Faith flying towards Xander.

"Son of a bitch..."

Xander tried to catch the flying Faith, but only ended up being a cushion to her fall. "See?" He got up, helping Faith to her feet. He looked around as the mummy began destroying things. He saw a part of a stone pillar on display and ran to it, grabbing it and picking it up. "Holy King Tut, this thing is heavy," he grumbled as he held it with both hands, struggling. "Hey, mummy guy! Your Mama was a toilet papyrus roll!"

The mummy growled and turned to Xander as he threw the pillar as hard as he could.

Faith cringed as the mummy just caught the pillar - not without crumbling a little more - and tossed it aside. She looked around for a better weapon, didn't spot one in time, and instead ran between Xander and the mummy before it began pounding him into the floor.

"Hey, ass face!" Faith punched the mummy, this time in the chest, and her fist vanished nearly up to her wrist, tearing through the ancient wrappings and remnants of flesh.

The mummy howled and pushed her back, exposing a gaping hole in its ribcage. "I don't think your strategy's gonna work here, Xander..."

"I had a strategy?" he asked, catching her before she lost her footing.

"Well, pretend you did," Faith muttered, watching as the mummy shuffled towards them. It hit

fast, but walked slow... _Weird. _"Okay, I have a strategy," she told Xander.

Xander backed away, still pulling her in front of him. "And that would that be?" he asked, his eyes still on the mummy.

"You run and I kill it," Faith said, pulling herself free of Xander.

Xander had his hands out as if still holding onto her arms. "What? But...!"

"I mean it, Xander. Go!"

He watched her move towards the mummy, and he frowned. _Great. THIS is the job I get in defeating forces of evil?_ he thought. "You know, if I wanted to be treated this way, I could've just stayed with Buffy!"

"Yeah, yeah," Faith said, turning away from him and hoping he didn't do anything stupid and heroic. That mummy's punch had knocked the wind out of her. It would tear Xander in half.

Xander shook his head and looked around for another weapon to help out with, no matter what Faith had told him.

The mummy drew nearer, and Faith decided that, as usual, the best defense was a good offense. She leapt up and kicked it in the head - only to have her ankles get snatched in midair. The mummy swung her like a club and then let go, and Faith went flying...

She only barely managed to turn the hard landing into a semi-hard roll, and something in her shoulder popped out of place as she did.

"Dammit!" Faith sprang back to her feet, and swore again when she saw Xander hadn't run away.

Xander had found the pole that the red velvet "rope" was attached to. He saw Faith fly in the air and he gritted his teeth. No matter how tough she was, how strong she was, it still hurt him to see her hurt. He picked up the pole and passed her, seeing if she was okay. "You do know I'm a big stubborn lug, right?" he said, running up to the mummy with the pole in hand.

"Not the words I'd use," Faith muttered.

Swinging it like a bat, Xander aimed for the mummy's head.

The mummy swiped his arm and knocked the pole out of Xander's hand. It flew up and crashed near its sarcophagus, breaking a corner of it.

The mummy cried out as if in pain, but it recovered quickly and grabbed for Xander. Xander ducked, its hand barely missing his neck.

Faith grabbed Xander by the collar and pulled him back, tossing him a few feet away. "Stay there," she said, giving him a warning look. She kicked the mummy, this time aiming low, and didn't get flung around. Again, she tore a bit of wrapping and dead mummy flesh, but not enough to really bother the thing. It didn't even scream.

Faith paused, wondering how that worked. Xander hadn't even hit it...

She glanced at the dented sarcophagus. "Hit that! Hit that!" she said, pointing at it.

Xander was busy getting up from Faith throwing him like a football; it took a moment to follow her finger. "Got it!" he cried, grabbing the nearest Egyptian vase and throwing it - at the sign next to the sarcophagus. "Bullseye!" he cried, proudly - and stupidly.

"Jesus, Xander! Not THAT!" Faith yelled impatiently, dodging the mummy's renewed attacks.

He paused then realized the only other object there was the mummy's coffin thingy. Xander ran for it, snatching the pole that was the only thing that had caused it any pain. He brought it down on the sarcophagus, smashing it in the center. Pieces flew everywhere. He hit it again, towards the head area. "Take that," he declared, hitting it again.

The mummy howled in agony - quite a feat since it's vocal chords had long since withered away into dust. With each blow to the sarcophagus, it weakened visibly, and by the end, was utterly unable to fend off Faith's attacks.

Finally, it sunk to its knees, barely even twitching as Faith pulled its head off.

"Wicked..." She stared at the decapitated mummy skull then casually tossed it aside. "Good work, Xander."

Xander threw the pole to the side and jumped down to her side, staring at the headless mummy. "Thanks," he said. "Just call me Xander, the Mummy Slayer... wait, on second thought, no, don't."

A wrapped hand landed on Faith's shoulder just then.

"Son of a - " Faith grabbed the hand and was about to snap its fingers, one by one, when Xander's eye widened and Faith realized who it was. She turned the near maiming into a mostly-friendly squeeze of the casino employee's hand.

"Hey... That sure was crazy, huh?" she asked him calmly.

The guy winced in pain from her grip, jerking his hand back to him. "What the HELL did you two do?" he cried.

Faith glared at him. "Saved your ass?"

"I'm gonna get fired from this! I should report you two to security!"

"Whoa, whoa, there, buddy," Xander said, putting his hand on the guy's shoulder. "Things got out of control and we just helped put it back in it. There's no wrong in that."

"What? You-you smashed thousand-year-old things! How the hell am I supposed to explain that to my boss?"

"I dunno. Doesn't look like my problem," Faith countered. She spotted a trio of men in suits approaching. "Better think fast, though!"

But the hotel staff ignored the man in the mummy costume and headed straight to Faith and Xander.

"Are you responsible for destroying the mummy?" one of them, a tall man with glasses, asked sternly.

Xander looked wide-eyed at the man. "Um, c'mon, do WE look like trouble makers?" he asked, innocently. "Some guy just went berserk and I had to protect my girlfriend here." He put his arm around Faith.

"Yeah, it - "

"Well. We'll just have to give the check to someone else then," Glasses said, smiling faintly.

"Back up - check?"

Glasses held out a check. Faith stared at it, counted the zeroes, then frowned, confused.

"What did you think we were going to do?" another one of the suits asked, smiling at the two.

"Penalize the people who saved our hotel... and our highrollers?"

Xander let Faith go and snatched the check out of the man's hands. "Oh! Well, then, that's us! I killed it, in fact." He stared greedily at the check. "Think you could get us a nice hotel room for the night?" he threw in.

The three suits conferred briefly then Smiley nodded. "Certainly. Our Rameses Bridal Suite,

in fact..."

"Bridal suite, huh?" Faith grinned wickedly and pulled Xander close. "So I guess we're five by, huh?"

Xander looked up from the check, a sort of deer-in-headlights expression on his face. "Oh, uh, yeah! Cool. We'll take it!" He put his arm around Faith again. "Only want the best for my new wife." He grinned. "So, show us to our pyramid o' love."

"This way." Glasses escorted Faith and Xander to the elevator and all the way up to the

top floor, then down a richly carpeted hallway and finally stopped at a large brass door.

"The Rameses Suite..." Glasses flung open the door and gestured for them to enter.

Xander stepped into the large room, his arm still around Faith. "Holy Egypt, Batman. We'll take it." He let go of Faith, turned towards the man with glasses. "Thanks, man." He all but pushed the guy out the door. "We really thank you for this. I'm sure this will make our honeymoon a whole lot... honey-er." He made a face at his choice of words. "Well, you know how newlyweds are." He grinned and shut the door. He turned towards Faith. "Wowza. See what happens when you fight for the forces of good?"

"And you were sayin' you wanted to stick with B before..." Faith shook her head. "See what you'd be missing out on? I wonder if the bed vibrates..."

Xander went over to the bed and pushed down on it to test the mattress. "This is a nice hotel, Faith, not Motel Valentine. Only the best here." He sat down and bounced a little to test it further. "Too bad a mummy couldn't go crazy at the Bellagio." He looked over at her, his face suddenly etched in worry. "Are you okay? That mummy got you pretty good."

Faith rubbed her shoulder. "Dislocated this... here. Hold my arm, will you?" she asked, holding her arm out in his direction. Then, once he grabbed it, she made a quick jerking motion and grunted slightly. "That's more like it. Now I'm good. How about you?" Faith asked, staring intently at Xander.

"Kinda grossed out, even though we've done THAT scene before," Xander said with a grin. "All things considered, okay." He shrugged. "So, who wants the bed this time? We'll flip a coin for it; that whole 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' thing never works for me."

"Yeah... If that's how you wanna do it," Faith said, for once sounding a bit bashful. "I mean..." She smiled at him. "How long we been running together, Xander?"

"Oh, I'd say almost a few months or so." He grew curious. "Why? Does that mean we have to move on to 'guess what number I'm thinking'?"

"No..."

"I Spy?"

Faith laughed in exasperation. "Xander, NO. I mean we don't have to take turns on the bed."

He stood there a moment, leaning in as if not believing what he was hearing. Then, "Oh, man. Are we moving on to separate rooms? I wanted this room." He laid back on the bed in disappointment. "Can I just lay here and enjoy the feeling of a down feather comforter?"

"Jesus, Xander, can we just fuck now?" Faith blurted out.

Xander raised his head in total, utter shock. "Would you hit me if I said, 'yes'?" He grinned then shook his head, sitting up. "Whoa, wait, Faith. It's this after battle thing, isn't it? You know I'd love to take advantage of that if you weren't... well, a better friend." _Or if I hadn't fallen for you a few months back_. "I think it's just better if maybe you find someone else to... fulfill that aftershock you tend to get?" He was joking, totally - but yet not really.

"No, Xander, this isn't 'aftershock'," Faith insisted. "This is..." She hesitated, tried to think of what to say, decided to screw it and move onto the new step. Faith pulled Xander down onto the bed and straddled him, running both hands up his chest. "This. Us."

Xander looked up at the bombshell brunette straddling him. Things his dreams were more than made of. He swallowed. "U-Us? Um, did you have a drink or ten before we got up here, Faith?"

Faith grinned. "No. That comes later..."

Why was he trying to deny what was happening? This was all he thought about at night as he lay on the floor of every hotel/motel/random place they stayed at.

He ran his hands up her sides, feeling her every well-trained muscle as she moved and found himself nudging her to move closer to him.

"That's more like it," Faith murmured, reaching down to tug his shirt off. "See? It's like falling off a bike, Xander..."

"Oh, I can say I've improved since last we..." Xander remarked, not believing what was happening. He let her take his shirt, but he pushed back a little. "Are you... you're not just doing this because I only have one eye, are you?" He smiled, trying to make it look like a joke.

"It's not your eye I'm after, Xander," Faith whispered as she tossed his shirt aside.

After that comment, he leaned up to kiss her hard and deep.

"You do know," he whispered. "This is what I've wanted since I saw you for the first time in a long time..."

Faith pressed a hand against his lips. "No more talking now," she said, grinning widely and moving her hands further down.

* * *

Faith was the first one to wake up. She sat up in bed, then shifted around and stared at the still-sleeping Xander for a second. Then she shook her head. "Snap out of it..." she muttered to herself as she got out of bed and hurried to the shower. 

She turned the water all the way up, thus missing the shrill, insistent ringing of her cell phone in the other room.

Xander's head shot up at the sound of the phone. He squinted against the blaring morning sun. "Wha...?" He looked over at the other side of the bed and the only thing he saw were the wrinkled sheets. He frowned then heard the water running. He rubbed his eye and heard the phone ring again.

He was halfway out of the bed, reaching for the cell phone of Faith's sitting on the floor with the rest of her clothes. He picked it up. "Hello?"

"Uh... Faith?" came the quiet male voice from the other side. It sounded like he was speaking from some tunnel.

"No. Obviously not," Xander said, trying to wake up more.

"I... I need to... talk with her."

"Sorry, buddy, but she's in the shower."

"Please... talk...I need to talk with her."

Xander wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. Maybe it was too early for the late night they had; maybe it was the fact they had made love but he still woke up alone in the bed. "Fine." He got out the bed and knocked loudly on the door so that Faith could hear him. "Hey, you've got a call."

"Wha?" Faith emerged from the bathroom with damp hair and a towel wrapped around her. "Who?" she asked Xander, frowning curiously.

Xander shrugged, handing her the phone. "Dunno. Um, are you done?" He nodded towards the shower, trying not to be tempted by her towel-wrapped body.

"Yeah, go for it," Faith said as she took the phone, still a bit confused.

Xander nodded brushing past her and practically pushing her out into the room.

"Yo."

"Faith..." There was a long pause as if now that he had her on the phone, he didn't know what to say. "I... this is... your number. Um..."

Faith frowned again. "Who is this?" she asked. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Which was probably a bad thing...

There was another pause. "I need you... here. You can under... it's just .. it's weird. Things keep crashing in-in my house... you remember that house? We would hide in the-the cellar." There was a nervous laugh after that.

"Cellar?" Faith repeated. Then her eyes widened a bit. "Shit - Mark?"

"You remember... yeah, it's me. It's Mark... Same old Mark. S-Same house. Same cellar." He let out a shaky breath. "I'm in there right now. In-In the cellar. Strange... things. Please, get here..."

"What? Dude, hang on," Faith said. "What things? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus..." There was a bump in the background. "Faith... you have to get here..." Then he hung up.

"Fuck." Faith stared at the phone for a second, then banged on the bathroom door. "Xander, hurry it up!" she yelled, moving to get dressed and toss her stuff together in a hurry.

"What? I just got in the warm bath!" he called from inside. "With bubbles!"

"Fuck the bubbles, it's an emergency," Faith replied.

"Fuck the bubbles?" Xander called. "You can't just ..." There was a pause and then the sound of water splashing around. He stuck his head out the door. "Emergency? Why? What's going on? Who was that guy?"

"Old friend of mine from Boston. Something crazy's going on," Faith said, telling him about the strange phone call. "We're leaving. Now."

"But.. I'm not dressed or packed..."

"Well? Dress. Pack." Faith crossed her arms impatiently.

He sighed and grabbed pants off the nearest chair, bringing it into the bathroom. After two minutes, he was out with everything in the bathroom. He put them in his duffel bag. "Wait, Boston? You mean, the Boston that's on the OTHER side of the country? I know my car can go fast, but it's not a miracle car."

"We fly, then. We have the 'thanks for saving our ass' check from the hotel, remember?" Faith

asked, grinning a little. Not how she'd planned on spending it, but... "We can leave your car here in the lot."

"I was hoping to spend it on a lavish something rather." Xander was busy zipping up his bag. "So, what kind of trouble is this guy in? And is this a guy in the guy-sense? Old ... beau of yours?"

"No!" Faith couldn't help but laugh at Xander's worries. "Mark's just this guy I hung with back then. Another member of the 'My Life Sucks' club, ya know? He wouldn't say what the trouble was. Something strange."

Xander kind of smiled off his not-so-subtle inquiry about the guy. "It's always something strange, right?" He hefted the bag on his shoulder, glancing back at the room. "Good-bye wonderful Ramisisiss room. You definitely gave good... things." He went out in the hall. "So we're just gonna hop on the next plane to Boston? Hometown, huh?"

"Yeah. No place like it." Faith smiled, but she was not looking forward to it. Even aside from Mark's obvious distress, Boston was pretty high on the list of places she didn't want to see again. _Yeah, well, suck it up._ "C'mon, let's get out of here."


	5. Story Four: Boston

**STORY FOUR: BEANTOWN, USA**

"Stand back, 'kay?" Faith whispered as she tested the knob on Mark's front door. She didn't

like this - any of this. Not being back in Boston, not wandering into a strange and dangerous situation without a clue, and especially not worrying about if Mark was even alive still.

_Fucking Beantown..._

Xander gladly followed closely behind the dark Slayer, his eye on alert. "So, this is what Boston looks like," he murmured, already getting a bad vibe about it all. It just felt ... wrong. "Somehow, this makes Sunnydale look safe."

The door swung open, and she cautiously stepped inside, a long knife in one hand. Luckily, it was dark out and this was a shitty neighborhood anyway, so nobody would notice or call the cops on them.

The inside of the house was just as dark. "Mark?" Faith called out, flipping the light switch a few times. Nothing happened.

"So... are we hoping to find him here or hoping that he's not here?" he whispered. "It looks like no one's been here for a few months."

"Well, he called... I figured... and there has to be something here," Faith whispered back.

"The basement."

"How exactly did he get your cell number?"

"I didn't really think to ask."

"And you're not just a little suspicious of that?"

She glanced back at him. "He's an old pal of mine; not gonna question it till I have to."

Xander nodded, not pushing the subject further.

She headed through the house, guided by hazy memory and sheer guesswork, and they found the basement door in the kitchen. "Watch my back, okay?" Faith asked Xander as she nudged the door open and began to descend into the dark.

Xander stood at the stop of the stairs. "Been doing that since we met," he whispered, glancing behind him when she disappeared in the dark below. "Do you want me to find a light?"

"Yeah, go for it," Faith said. She stopped halfway down the stairs and pulled a flashlight out of her jacket pocket. She'd had a hunch it would come in handy...

"Okay! So... there's your light," Xander said, gesturing to her new source of light. "I'll just stay up here."

"Mark?"

There was some shuffling in a corner. "Faith...?" came a barely there whisper. "You're here... you actually came..."

"Toldja," Faith said, creeping over to the corner. "Mark?" She shone the flashlight in his direction then bit her lip. He'd definitely seen better days.

Mark held the cordless phone close to him as he huddled in the corner. The phone had died hours ago. His light brown hair was filled with the dust that lived throughout most of the house. He squinted at the light, even though it wasn't powerful. "It's... you can't leave... the house."

Faith stared at her old friend, lowering the flashlight away from his face. "Why not?"

Upstairs, Xander was wandering the kitchen, opening the fridge. "Whoa," he said closing it quickly. "Hasn't seen the light of day for awhile." A door slammed shut in the direction of the front door. He turned.

In the basement, Mark shook his head. "You can't leave... the house."

"What? Why not?" Faith asked again.

"He won't... he doesn't like it when we... leave..." Mark murmured, rubbing the side of his face where a suddenly large bruise formed automatically. "Remember? He didn't... he hated when I left... to play with you." A sudden slap echoed through the basement and Mark's face reacted as if actually slapped.

"Jesus!" Faith instinctively fell into a defensive crouch. _Ghosts. I fucking hate ghosts_. "C'mon, you little fucker, show yourself," she snarled.

Mark shook his head. "No, no... he likes it... to hide... to be everywhere. No one leaves this house... alive. He told me so. He told me." He shook his head. "Help me, please, Faith."

Meanwhile, upstairs, Xander rushed over to the front door and grabbed at it. "Okay, now. An open sesame would be a little assuring right about now," he murmured, but the door wasn't budging. He kicked at it and it shook under his foot. But it didn't do much else. He kicked it a few more times. "Okay... back door." He moved towards the back of the house.

"He told me that... I can't leave," Mark said. "But you can, right? Can't you help?" He was once a tough, strong-willed boy. But somehow it had come down to this.

"Yeah, I can help." Faith held a hand out to Mark. "C'mon. We're getting out of here, and I don't give a fuck what your dead asshole of a dad says."

"He told me he was gonna kill me," Mark said, shakily reaching out for Faith's hand. He grasped it and pulled himself up on his wobbly legs - only to be knocked off his feet from the unseen force.

"...kill..." came a whisper.

Xander could hear the same whisper from above. He looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, crap..." He jiggled the knob harder.

"...kill..."

"Hurry up!" Faith pulled Mark back up to his feet and tugged him towards the stairs. "Come on! Xander, GO!" she yelled.

"I've been GOING for the past five minutes!" Xander called. Suddenly, HE got shoved back onto the dusty floor.

"...killed..."

Mark actually started to whimper as he was pulled along behind Faith. "He's going to get me... he's going to kill me."

"He's NOT!" Faith yelled, not slowing down even a bit.

Xander got to his feet. "What's going on? Who's the Casper here?"

"Doesn't matter. Let's just get the hell out," Faith replied as she pulled Mark up the last few stairs and into the kitchen. "Go!" she said, glaring at Xander.

Xander put up his hands. "What do you think I've been doing? It's not allowing us to do the leaving thing!"

"...killed..."

"This 'kill' motif is about annoying as you and your 'die' thing in Mexico," he murmured, looking at a window. He grabbed a nearby broken chair and aimed at the open pane. But the chair flew out of his hand and smashed against the wall.

"...Dad..." Mark murmured, wanting to pull away from Faith. "...it's him. He wants to kill me..."

"His dad?" Xander asked, looking at Faith. "Um, has this been an ongoing, haunting thing?"

"I don't know!" Faith turned to Mark, then shook her head. She slammed herself up against the door with all her might then let out grunt of pain. "Fuck! Dislocated it again," she moaned, stepping back and rubbing her shoulder.

Xander came up to her and grabbed her shoulder. "Seems like you're getting old in your Slayer age," he murmured.

Faith grinned. "Say that again when both my arms are working, dude..." She twisted sharply, snapping her shoulder back into place. "I hate that."

Mark slid down the wall. "The body... the body... in his room..."

Xander looked over at him, eyes wide. "WHAT?"

"Yeah - say that again?" Faith asked slowly, staring at Mark. "What did you DO?"

Mark looked over at them. "He... he said he was going to kill me..." He looked up at the ceiling. "So... I did it first. But he's not gone."

"Oh, fuck, Mark," Faith sighed, a wave of misery washing over her. She knew Mark's father was a complete bastard, and she didn't mourn his death - spitting on the guy's grave had been a fantasy of hers back in the day - but the fact that Mark had killed him...

Xander followed Mark's eyes. "Why do I NOT wanna go up there?" he asked. He looked over at Faith. "Okay, um, stay here with... him. I'll go... see what I can do." What, he so wasn't sure. But if that was the key to getting the heck out of there, Xander was all for it.

"What? You're not going up there by yourself, Xander."

"I won't be," he said with a grin. "Apparently, there's a body up there to keep me company." He relaxed his joking manner a bit. "I'll be fine. You have to stay with him, make sure his, um, father, doesn't try and hurt him. Plus, you have to do something with that wimpy shoulder of yours." He leaned in and kissed her quickly. "I'll be back, hot stuff, okay?" He backed away towards the stairs as he flashed her a semi-confident grin.

"I'm going to kill him," Faith said as Xander vanished up the stairs. "Come on," she told Mark, grabbing his wrist. "Now."

Mark had no choice, no matter how hard he tried to pull away or how much he mumbled his protest. The one direction he didn't want to take was back upstairs.

Xander wandered down the hallway, wishing that he had found a flashlight before thinking about this stupid task. He opened up one door, peering in, finding a guest room of some kind. He moved onto two more doors before finding the last one at the end of the hall. He grabbed the knob, took a deep breath and opened up the door.

The odor coming out of it made him almost gag slightly. He put the back of one of his hands up to his nose. "Oh, God..." he murmured, pushing the door further -

only to have it slam in his face. "Hey!" He turned around at a sound behind him and let out a yelp at the figures standing there.

"And you're callin' me wimpy?" Faith asked, grinning nervously.

"Hey, at least my shoulder is holding just fine," he teased back.

"My shoulder is fine," Faith retorted. "Now, anyway... And I told you you weren't going here by yourself. Door troubles?" she asked, nodding at the one that had just slammed in his face.

Xander pointed to it. "I wasn't until it decided that it wasn't letting me in." He turned back toward it and kicked at it.

Mark shook his head, pulling as hard as he could from Faith's grip. "Don't go in there. Don't. He's there."

Faith held firm. "Mark, we gotta... it's the only way to end this." _Fuck, I hope so... _The Slayer stared at the closed door for a second, then kicked it open - and down.

Xander nodded once. "That works, too." He stepped through first. "Oh, geez, Mark, what did you do?" he asked, seeing the body of his dad all over the bed... almost literally.

Mark shut his eyes. "He was gonna kill me. Was gonna hurt me over and over and over again."

"It's okay, Mark," Faith told him reassuringly. She tried not to cringe at the messy remains of Mark's father.

Xander glanced back at Faith. "Has he always been like this?" he whispered.

Faith shook her head 'no.'

He glanced back at the nearly mutilated body of the man. "Maybe we should call the police."

"And tell 'em what?" Faith whispered back. "I'm not going to let Mark get fucked by his old man again." What they were going to do, though, she had no idea.

Xander sighed, really not knowing what to do. He winced a little as he rounded the bed. To get a better view? He wasn't sure. It was so gross, it was fascinating... and really sick. "If we don't get the police here, then... maybe we should... hide the..." He nodded towards the remains. A force picked up Xander and slammed him against the wall, holding him up a full two feet off the ground.

He grabbed at his throat as if someone was holding him there. "Ack! Bad idea?"

"Xander! Let him go, you son of a - "

Mark stared at the body. "Don't touch it. Must... throw it."

"Throw it? Out of the house?" Faith asked, thinking fast. She ran over to the body and, tuning out just how disgusting this was, grabbed the remains and tossed them out - and through - the window.

Mark fell to the ground at the same time as Xander landed hard on his butt.

He rubbed his throat. "Oh, man..." He looked at the empty bed then the window. "How...?" He got to his feet. "The body. We just needed to get rid of it?"

"Right," Mark murmured, raising his head. "I... I didn't know it would be like that. I thought it woulda been over once it was all done. I thought I just coulda stabbed him but his voice, it kept coming and I just... I kept going."

Faith bowed her head. _Fuck._ "It's okay," she finally said, knowing that it wouldn't be, not for Mark, not for a long, long time. "The body... we gotta bury it," she said wearily. "Not here."

* * *

Xander let the last of the dirt fall on the slight mound that he had helped put over the body of Mark's father. He stared at it as he leaned slightly on the shovel. This wasn't right, he knew it. But there was no other way. "Are we sure this... is okay?"

Mark nodded. "Shit, man, YES. For the fucking fifth time..." He threw his shovel off into the woods and turned away, pulling out a cigarette.

Xander raised his brows. "Whoa, okay. Guess he's back."

"Yeah." Faith stared at Mark. "How you doing?" she asked him quietly.

Mark lit his cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke. "'Bout as good as you can feel after killing your own father." He glanced over at her. "Know how that feels?"

"Kind of," Faith replied bitterly, regretting it - her own crimes weren't on the same level as Mark's. It'd be like if she'd been the one to take out the Mayor, not Buffy... _No. He wasn't your father, either..._

Mark lifted his brow. "Really? Now what's my bad girl been up to then? Well, besides what I already know that is." He grinned and winked.

"Long story," Faith answered, increasingly uncomfortable about all of this.

"You know, it's about damn time you got back to your old stomping grounds Faith."

Faith shrugged. "Been busy, Mark, what can I tell you? I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know. You just kinda took off one day, never looked back, hardly heard from you. Really know how to break a guy's heart, Faith." But he nudged her playfully. "Nice to see you again, though, girl."

Xander blinked. "Well, OH-kay." He picked up his shovel. "Gonna go this way..." he said, nodding off in one direction. "Thought I saw a 24 hour convenience store, so. gonna grab a snack. Don't miss me while I'm gone!"

"Xander..." Faith rolled her eyes. As if she didn't have enough stress.

Mark watched him leave. "Huh, where'd you find that dude?" he asked Faith.

"Sunnydale. Out near L.A.," she replied absently. She was staring at the shallow grave.

"Wow, you ended up WAY over there?" he asked. "Had no idea you traveled all around."

"Been busy, like I said. Mark, this..." Faith gestured at it. "What are you going to do?"

Mark glanced at her then back at the grave. "Whatta mean? We did it. End of story. The bastard got what he deserved. Maybe I got what I deserve, too, but hell, that's over thanks to you."

Faith stared at him in silence. Yeah, he'd gotten what he deserved, but... Did any of it matter to Mark?

He put out his cigarette, throwing the butt right at the grave. "Hey, remember when we used to go back to that old man's store and snatch some comic books? We were a good team, girl. And since I'm released from my old man's chains, maybe you and me can run together. I don't have nothing holding me back here anymore."

Faith sighed. Apparently, none of it mattered. She stared at the grave for a while, wondering what to say. What would Angel say? He was the expert at saving people. "Can't," she finally decided on. "I've got a good deal going here, Mark."

Mark was actually shocked at her answer. He stared at her. "What? Good deal?"

"Yeah."

He laughed. "Well, yeah, you do. But we can make it better, girl. C'mon, the open road is where I belong, too. Get out of Beantown and onto bigger and greater things. Plus, if they find this body, I'll be on the run. Had enough of cops on my ass. Ditch the other guy, Faith. You can ditch him at anytime, right? He ain't your boyfriend or nothing." He nudged her again. "I mean, you can do better than that. We can have fun."

"Mark, you're still this much," Faith held two of her fingers close together, "of a friend. Don't push it," she told him.

He quirked up a brow. "What? Thought we were better than that. It's not my fault you fucking took off."

"Didn't say it was. Listen to me. If you go running off, you'll be dead inside of a year. Or wish you were. You think I've been running around playing hopscotch the last ten years? You have no idea."

"You telling me that you didn't go off and have fun once you left this piss-ass of a home?" He shook his head. "Girl, I saw you when you left. Well, kinda. You took off with some Brit lady you started to hang around with a lot. Whatever shit you were into, you enjoyed it. I know that twinkle in those eyes of yours."

"Mark, it wasn't even the same," Faith replied. "You wanna know about my twinkly-eye decade? The British lady got cut in half in front of my eyes, then the thing that killed her ate what was left. I ended up working for a crooked politician who was a demon worshipper on the side. Killed some people, too. Spent a few years in jail. So... I think I know a few fucking things about wasting your life."

That kind of took Mark by surprise but he quickly hid it. He shrugged. "So, you done all that, and what now? You go soft? Learn the ways of the zen or some shit like that? Run with one-eyed guy back there? C'mon, that ain't you. I KNOW you, Faith. We don't hafta get into trouble or nothing. Nothing to draw attention, but I gotta get outta here, and I want you to come with me. Ditch the pirate, maybe you can teach me the Zen ways." He chuckled, showing clearly he was mocking her, slightly.

Faith squeezed her two fingers, the ones that had been held apart during her little refresher course for Mark, together. "Forget it. There's nothing here. Seeya 'round, Mark," she said, turning in the direction Xander had gone off in. "Think about all that..." Faith added as she headed to catch up with Xander.

Mark frowned. "Fine!" he called after her. "Fuck you! Just run off again." He angrily pulled out another cigarette and took off in the opposite direction.

Faith clenched her fists, but kept walking. It was the only thing she knew to do. She wasn't Angel. She couldn't help Mark from fucking up his life - any more than he already had.

A minute later, she reached the run-down convenience store, smiling when she spotted Xander lurking near the payphone just outside the door.

"Hey!"

Xander's eye darted back and forth almost nervously as he held a bunch of food-type snacks in his arms. "Uh, oh... hey," he greeted back, taking a moment to smile. He glanced behind her. "Um, wh-where's your friend?" He held up his arms slightly. "L-Look! Snacks. I bought enough for him, too."

"He's gone." Faith stared at the armful of junk food, then looked Xander in the eye. "Someone's got the munchies, huh?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Well, this is also for you. For doing a good job." He handed her some of the snacks, keeping a few for himself. "So, Mark's gone, huh? I guess more for us." His hands were slightly shaking, but he was trying so hard not to show it as he opened up a candy bar. "So, are we ready to get out of here?" he asked with a mouth full of chocolate. "Maybe next time you can show me the sites, but I just kinda really want to get out of here."

Faith stared at Xander for a few seconds, then looked past him into the convenience store. _He wouldn't've..._

Xander ate his candy bar, chewing. He met her face as she stared at something behind him. He glanced back at her, holding up his candy. "Do you... want some?"

"Uh..." Faith shrugged. The counterman inside wasn't chasing after Xander, so she figured he was cool. _Paranoid, aren't we? _So what had him so twitchy? "Sure." She grabbed a pair of chocolate bars. "Night's still young... where to next, big guy?"

Xander put the rest of the candy/junk food in his pockets. He began to walk towards the rental car, glancing back at the convenience store one last time as if expecting to see something. He blinked then faced forward again. "I was thinking, since we probably both don't want to stay too much longer, we could drive up to the Big Apple."

"Drive down, you mean," Faith said with a grin.

"Up, down, what's the diff?" he said with a shaky smile of his own before glancing behind him once more.

"And that sounds good to me. Haven't been to New York in a while. Hear they got some alligators in the sewers... could be fun." She winked at him, then gave the convenience store another quick glance. _What the fuck? _

**THAT** got Xander's attention. "Would there be... any wrestling involved? Because don't think I didn't try to market that yuletide story for a Christmas special," he said, rounding the corner to where they parked the car.

"I'm sure I can squeeze some in," Faith said, laughing with Xander.

He stopped in his tracks that the sight of the car. "Oh, MAN!"

"Oh, fuck... I can't believe it!" Faith stared at the rental car - or what was left of it. The engine and tires were gone, so were the seats. "I hate this fucking city."

Xander's shoulders sagged. He shook his head. "Now what?" He sat down on the ground, defeated. "Don't think any rental place around here is open."

"C'mon, get up. We'll grab some bikes," Faith said, pulling Xander to his feet. "They're more fun than a car, anyway."

Xander let himself be pulled to his feet. "Bikes?" He shook his head. "No WAY am I peddling all the way to New York. You've gotta be crazy."

Faith tapped Xander's forehead. "Not THAT kind of bike, Xander. Come on. I know a place."


	6. Story Five Pt 1: New York City

**STORY FIVE: THE BIG APPLE (Part 1)**

"Are you sure you know how to fly this thing?" Xander asked as they sped down the road towards New York on a Harley. He hugged Faith as he sat behind her.

"Haven't crashed yet," Faith replied. She laughed suddenly. "You're having fun, aren't you?" she yelled back to Xander.

"I'm with you, aren't I?" Xander said, a smile in his tone, giving her a quick squeeze around the waist. He truly was enjoying this time, and marveling at the fact that after so many months, she was still sticking with him, by him... even after that night. They hadn't said much about 'that night,' but he wondered if it was a step somewhere with her. The problem was, a motorcycle wasn't exactly the kind of scene to talk about something like that. "Hey, anytime you see a rest area, can we stop? The sodas are getting to me!"

"Sure..." A few minutes later, Faith pulled up at the rest stop and shut the motorcycle off. "Hurry up. I think we can still make the city before sunset."

Xander nodded, hoping off, then went to the men's side of the restroom. After a few short moments, Xander was slowly walking out. He came up to Faith again, his face a little pale. "Okay, let's go. Now."

"Whoa - you okay?" Faith asked him. "What happened? Did you throw up?"

Xander was already hopping on the bike, putting on his helmet. "No... I mean, I'm fine." His smile was shakier than before. "We're going now, yeah?"

"Yeah... Seriously - you okay?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah. Fine," he said too quickly to be true. "Hey, wanna get to the Big 'A' before dark so we better get moving." Then he smiled that strange smile again.

"Okay..." Faith considered pressing Xander on his sudden shiftiness, then decided to let it go. For now. She hopped onto the Harley and off they went again.

A few hours later, just as the sun was starting to slip over the western horizon, Faith pulled to a stop again, this time in front of a low-low-low rent hotel in Brooklyn. "Stayed here once... beds are clean. That's about all we can afford, I think," she told Xander as she got off.

Xander got off the bike as well, looking up at the place. "You'd think we should be used to this by now. But after that hotel in Vegas..." He hugged her.

Faith grinned, holding him close. "Yeah... we oughta start charging people."

"Wanna drop off our stuff then go get something to eat then maybe find those alligators?"

"Sounds good to me," Faith said, staring around the slightly scummy neighborhood on the edge of Little Odessa. She rubbed her arms as a sudden chill ran through her_. Great. All this crap, now I'm getting a cold..._ "I wonder if Sergei's still running this place," she said with a nod towards the hotel.

As it turned out, Sergei was still behind the counter. And it looked like he hadn't changed clothes or gotten a haircut since the last time Faith was in town. He eyed the two as if they were from Mars.

"Can I help you?" Sergei asked in thickly-accented English.

"Yeah... A room'd be nice." Faith drummed her fingers on the counter. She leaned forward and whispered something, at which point the Russian laughed and gave Xander a knowing look. Once she had the key, Faith handed it to Xander. "I'll take the bags."

Xander stared at her as they walked away. "Hey, what'd you tell the guy?"

"What? Nothing..." Faith smirked.

"Oh, no, you can't do that - what you just did - and not tell. C'mon!" He pushed her playfully. "I'll dislocate that weak shoulder of yours. I know your weakness, you know."

"Try it... I dare ya," Faith replied, grinning at him. "Go check the room out. I'll grab the bags, all right?"

Xander didn't answer right away. He was _this_ close to saying "no," but he stopped himself. "Yeah, okay."

"All right. Stay outta trouble." Faith headed back across the lobby.

He watched her go and then went to find their room. He came across it and went in, closing the rickety door behind him.

A couple minutes later, Faith nudged the door open with her shoulder and stepped inside.

Xander jumped as he stood in a corner of the room when Faith walked in.

"Hey," she said, then stopped and gave Xander a worried look.

"Uh...h-hey." He smiled. "Got the bags? I'm kinda hungry. Maybe we should go ahead and get going."

"Are you SURE you're okay? What's going on?" she asked him.

"Going on? Nothing! Nothing at all..." He nudged her back towards the door. "So, where's the best place to eat around here?" He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Okay, that's it." Faith tossed the bags down. "What the hell is up with you?" she demanded.

Xander blinked at Faith. "I told you; it's nothing... Now let's go. We'll test the bed out later."

"The fuck it is." Faith crossed the room until she was right in Xander's face. "You've been acting weird since Boston... what's going on?" she asked, more gently this time.

There really was no choice for Xander. It wasn't like he could just go out of the room without being stopped - hard. He raised his brows, swallowing. "I... I can't..." His eyes looked over her shoulder and they widened. "Jesus."

Faith turned sharply, but the room was empty aside from them. Or at least it looked like it was. "Who am I looking at here, Xander...?"

"You don't see...?" Xander's face fell. "Oh, God, you don't see..." He shook his head. "No, I have to get out of here." He pushed past Faith and opened the door, moving down the hallway. It felt so stuffy in the room, he needed air.

"Whoa!" Faith was out in the hall in a flash, catching up with Xander and stepping in front of him. "Xander, come on... tell me."

"It's... it's Anya," he whispered, his eyes quickly gazing down to the ground.

"Oh." With that, it all clicked into place. Faith took hold of Xander and pulled him close for a second. "Xander, shit," she said, now looking warily around the hallway. Why the hell would Anya be haunting him? Sheer spite? Didn't seem like the New and Mostly Improved Anya that Faith had known in her last stay in Sunnydale, but... what else, then? A warning? Against what? _Fuck. I miss Mexico now._

Xander looked around, too, but didn't see her in sight. "She showed up at the convenience store in Boston and... I just... I keep seeing her." He shook his head. "I don't know why, though." He almost looked pleadingly at Faith. "Can we just go get something to eat?"

"Yeah, we can," Faith replied soothingly. _Jesus. No wonder he's flipping out._ "Come on. I saw a few places on the way in."

A short while later, Faith sat down across from Xander in one of the back booths of a smoky Russian restaurant that didn't have any patrons except for them at the moment. Which was probably just as well, since there didn't look to be anybody around except for a single waiter.

"How long has this been going on, Xander?" Faith asked after he'd sat down.

Xander had been scanning the small restaurant as they sat. It finally registered that he had been spoken to. "Just since Boston. When I ran to get snacks." He held his hands together to keep them from shaking. This was ridiculous to be shaking like this! He had been though so many near death, near end of the world experiences, this should be nothing - except... this was Anya.

The one who had loved him when he was a true loser in every sense of the word. Whom he almost married... whom he never said good-bye to as Sunnydale crumbled to the ground. The girl he had cried over at night for the next few days after they had left on the yellow bus. "So, I never got to ask you what did happen to your pal in Boston?" he asked, trying to keep the subject away from him. As he asked, he noticed an old woman sitting just in the line of vision who stared back at him.

Faith shrugged, uncomfortable at Xander turning the conversation back towards her. It didn't help that she felt guilty over how it'd gone down back in Boston. "Mark tried to hook up with me... I said no."

Xander blinked. "You said... well, that's good. I mean, about the... I mean, because back in Vegas, I just... you and me... we're..." He cringed a little, not knowing how to straight out and say what he wanted to say.

"It's okay, Xander. We are." She smiled then shrugged again. "How many times have you seen her?" Faith asked.

"Her? Her who?" he asked. Then realized. "Oh, Anya. Um... I think... I think that was the third time." His eye was trained on the menu on the table. "I don't really know why. Why now, you know? Maybe... maybe she's mad at me 'cause I didn't..." He shrugged. "I wasn't there for her."

"Xander, c'mon. That ain't true. And I'm sure she knows it," Faith said, even though she wasn't sure of any such thing. Anya had spent 99 of her life as a vengeance demon, after all... "Look. I know you're guilty about what happened to her, but that doesn't mean that's why she's here."

"Then why?" he asked as if she'd suddenly have the answer. "I mean, why not right after it happened? Or when I was in Cleveland? Or even when we were in Mexico? What was different any of those times than right after Vegas?" He paused. "Oh, man... you don't think she's... No." He shook his head. "Then again, she was a vengeance demon."

"She _was,_ Xander," Faith reminded him. But his logic was pretty good.

"_Was_, right..." he murmured. "You know, she became a vengeance demon again. Big fat payback for leaving her at the alter." He looked back up and over towards the old, frail woman who continued to look at him.

"And - well, has she done anything? Said anything?"

He shook his head. "No. Just... was there. Even when I was staring at her, she just kinda looked back at me. I think she wanted to say something to me, but... I just freaked." The old woman was still staring back at him, something in her eyes making him want to ask if she needed any help. "Um, think they're gonna take our order soon?"

Faith glanced back over her shoulder. The waiter was still off in the corner... "Hey!" She waved at him, and he reluctantly came over to their table, walking just shy of glacial speed.

_'Bout time._ Faith placed her order then glanced at Xander. The waiter just stared off into space.

Xander ordered as well then gave the weirdo waiter the menu. "Are New Yorkers always this weird?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Faith replied.

Now that they had ordered, however, Xander felt compelled to see if the old woman did need some help and was just too... old?.. to walk over. "Um, could you excuse me?" he told Faith, getting to his feet.

"Uh - yeah, sure." Faith went back to her Coke.

Xander made his way over to the old lady, glancing around at the patrons who only glanced at him a moment. He stood in front of the lady's table, stuffing his hands in his pockets uncomfortably. This was already awkward. "Um, hey there," he said to the woman quietly. "I couldn't help but wonder if you... needed help for something? Always up to helping..." He almost said 'the elderly' but second thought about it. "... beautiful people." He grinned, realizing up close, the old woman wasn't the picture that went under 'beautiful' exactly.

"Beautiful people?" the old crone giggled hoarsely. "Sit down, polite little one... I think maybe you're the one who needs help, aren't you?" she asked him, staring at him with her tiny, beady eyes.

Xander glanced back at the booth where Faith still sat and noticed she was wrapped up in something else. He sat down across from the old woman, just to be polite. "Um, I don't know what you mean about me needing the help. Totally help-free."

The woman shook her head. "Helpless, you mean... She's here, you know, even when you can't see her."

He quirked up a brow. "Who? Faith? Oh, yeah, I can see her fine if I turn a certain way... and, yeah, most of the time I am the helpless in distress, but I can make it fine myself. Now back to YOU needing some help." He smiled.

"Don't talk to me like I'm your stupid grandmother, little one. You know who I mean," the old woman snarled, her eyes narrowing for a second.

"Oh, okay, okay..." he said, putting his hands up. "I mean, I kinda don't know what you're talking about." She COULDN'T be talking about Anya. How could she possibly know?

The woman continued to glare, then she gave Xander a gap-toothed smile. "You're right, you're right, I do need someone to help me... will you help an old woman find what she's lost?"

Xander shrugged and leaned in a little on the table, ready to do whatever the woman needed. "Of course. It's why I came. What can I do ya' for?" He wanted to think she reminded him of his own grandmother, only he didn't remember his grandmother being so... scary.

"I lost something. Just a little thing... a little old glass ball..." She sniffed, her face the picture of woe. "Someone stole it from me."

"Oh? Man, that sucks. Sorry to hear that. I'm not really good at retrieving things, truthfully. I mean, from other people." He really hoped he wasn't expected to chase the thief down and fight for some small piece of jewelry. He just thought the woman needed help crossing the street or an escort back to her place. "Did you call the police, report it stolen? Because I hear they're pretty good that finding things."

"No, no, my dear, you're the one who can help me," the old woman assured Xander. She reached out and grabbed his wrist with her own rather leathery hand, squeezing tightly for just a second. "You can't say no to an old woman who needs you."

Xander almost had the urge to pull his hand back from her surprisingly firm grip. But he refrained. "Um, I can't, you're right. But... why am I the only one who can help you?"

"Who else is here?"

"Well, there's lots of people who could do a better job at this. Not that I don't wanna help, but getting something back from a thief isn't really my forte or anything. Hey, do you need a new bookcase? I can build you one of those!" He raised his brows.

"Stop talking foolish. You will help me... and I will help you. I can free you from her."

Xander knitted his brows together in pure confusion now. "Are you talking about Faith again? Because I need to tell you, I REALLY don't wanna be free from her."

The woman reached across the table and gently slapped Xander with surprising speed. "Why do you insult me! I see her... even now. I _hear_ her." She covered her ears. "I can free you from it... or - ohhhh. Yes, dearie. I can bring her back, even. Yes I can."

Xander had his hand on his face, in total shock at her action of slapping him. But he didn't yelp or do anything to show pain. The words that had come out of her mouth pretty much stopped him dead from doing anything. "Y-You're not talking about Faith, are you? You're talking about... A-Anya? But how did you know?"

"Oh, I know... I see her, I hear her. Anya... she misses you. She wants to be free. That's why she appears," the woman told him in a whisper. "If you help me just a little, I'll bring her back to you."

Staring at the old woman as if she had sprouted Smurfs in her hair, he leaned in a little. "Um, I-I'm sorry. Did you just say that Anya wants to be free? Can you see her? I mean, bringing back people isn't really... I've done it. Not fun, and isn't right. But if she's asking ..."

"She is. She begs and pleads," the woman confided. "I can help her... and I can help you. If you help me."

He thought about it. He never thought he'd be put in this situation again - to bring back someone who was supposed to be gone. But... it wasn't unlike Buffy back then. Buffy didn't appear to them. Anya was currently making her rounds, and he didn't understand why. But this woman seemed to. If Anya wanted to be "free," to be where she was supposed to be - alive and human - Xander owed her at least THAT much. He glanced back to where Faith sat then glanced back at the woman. "Are you sure you can bring her back? Because if you do, I'll do whatever you want."

The woman chuckled and patted Xander's cheek. "Never doubt an old woman's promise," she told him. "Bring me what I want and I'll give you what you want."

"Wait, are we back to getting that piece of jewelry again?" He took a deep breath. For Anya. The least he could do for the time that he couldn't help her. "Okay. Where do I go?"

Still smiling, she gave him the address of a house not all that far from the greasy spoon restaurant. "Go there... you will know what I want. But be careful. The owner is very tricky... and very dangerous."

He swallowed hard. "Dangerous, huh?" He met her eyes again. "So we have an agreement then? I bring this... thing back, you bring Anya back?"

"Just as you say."

Xander stood up. "Okay, then," he said with a nod. "Where do I meet you once I get the thing? Here?"

"I'm sure I'll find you, dearie."

"Oh... kay..." He turned to go back to the booth, then wondered how he was going to go about this without telling Faith. Maybe he should tell her the sitch, but then again... He came up to the booth and sat down. "Hey," he said. "Food's not out yet?"

"Nah..." Faith leaned back, sipping on her Coke. "What'd you do, fall down the toilet or something?"

He laughed, kind of nervously. "Yeah. Those darn alligators wouldn't let me come back up, though. Had to find a different route back." He shifted in seat, feeling the woman's eyes on him. Somehow he needed to get out of there to the address. The sooner, the better. He took his drink and began to gulp it down. He glanced at his watch. "Oh, I forgot to make a phone call," he suddenly said.

"Right. Phone call." Faith gave Xander an annoyed look. "Admit it. I know what's going on."

He looked up, eyes wide. "What? What's going on?"

"You're cheating on me."

"What? Why in the hell would I cheat on YOU?" He reached out and grabbed her hand. "If you haven't noticed, there's really no one I could find that I'd even want to cheat on you with... um, not that ever crossed my mind." He patted her hand. "Faith, you've got me. I'm yours. Plus, there's the fear of cheating, getting caught, and getting my ass kicked back to 10th grade."

"More like pre-school," Faith said. "Dude, I was kidding, you know..." Although his reaction to all of this convinced her something was going on. Xander was a shitty-ass liar. Another Anya sighting?

He gave her hand a squeeze. "Seriously, I gotta make a quick call."

"All right. Don't get lost."

He stood up slightly and leaned in and kissed her. "Promise." He grinned and moved towards the front of the restaurant, glancing at the old woman before leaving the place totally.


	7. Story Five Pt 2: New York City

**STORY FIVE: THE BIG APPLE (Part 2)**

Xander came up to the address that he remembered the woman telling him. He was breathing a little hard and his heart was beating fast in his chest. What the heck was he doing? _Just do it, and Anya will be happy again._ He leaned against the tall fence that surrounded the small house in the middle of the buildings and peered around the corner.

The moonlight hit the top of the house, and all seemed very quiet. _Not good._ He slowly walked up to the fence door and opened it and closed it as carefully as he could with minimal squeaky noise. He moved around the perimeter of the small yard, wandering towards the window to see what he would be up against. He had to step on some left over bricks to see through one of the side windows.

Inside, a small, well-furnished study could be seen. The walls were lined with bookshelves, each of which was full of leather tomes. In the center of the room, on a small oak table, was a silver box.

_That's gotta be it,_ he thought, looking left and right and grabbing the bottom of the window and pushing it upwards. After a few tugs, it finally opened. He pushed it enough for him to crawl through. "This is so wrong," he whispered to himself. He took a deep breath and pulled himself up and through the window. He stumbled a little, but got inside the home with minimal noise.

He all but tip-toed towards the box and picked it up. He opened it and saw the glass ball sitting pretty in it. "Bingo."

"It's pretty. What is it, a snow globe?" Faith asked as she stepped into Xander's field of view.

Xander jumped and almost dropped the box. He turned around, staring at Faith wide-eyed in the darkness. "Good God, Faith," he whispered. "Could you maybe tone down on the whole Slayer Stealth?" He hugged the globe close to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping you out of trouble... kinda late, though." She glared at him.

"I'm not in trouble. But if you sneak up on a guy like that, there could be all kinds."

"Yeah, right. You're going to put that back now or give me a really good explanation, right?"

He glanced down at the globe then back at her. "Are those my only two choices? Look, just let me get out of here with this and we don't need to talk about it ever again."

"I'm sorry. Maybe I wasn't really clear. Should I have added 'or else'?" Faith asked him coldly. "What the hell is this all about?"

"I gotta do this," he whispered almost in a plead. "Just... this once. Someone lost this and I was just helping out by bringing it back to them. No wrong there, right?" He looked around, wondering if the way he came in was the best way out.

"Who lost it? What is it? Who does it belong to?" Faith asked rapidly. Then - "God, I can't believe _I'm_ the one advocating the straight and narrow here."

Xander kept looking around. "Some woman. A piece of jewelry, I guess. And it belongs to her. How did you get in here?"

"Some woman? Who? Does she have a name?" Faith asked patiently.

"Um, actually she never told me her name," he confessed. "But she knew... I could help her."

"Oh. Right." She jerked her thumb at the open window Xander had used to enter. "Wasn't hard."

He looked back at the window, wondering how on earth Slayers do that with the quiet and the stealth since the window was practically behind him. "Okay, so maybe I'll go out that way, too." He moved towards it still clutching the globe.

Faith took a sidestep, blocking his path to the window. "Maybe not. Are you really this stupid, Xander? What is this really about? What's the big deal with the snow globe?"

"Faith, just back off, okay?" he suddenly snapped, turning around. If she wasn't going to let him go out that way, he'd find his own way. Even if it meant going out through the front door. There was no way he was going to let Anya down this time. No. Way. He moved towards the door that led out into the main hallway and stepped out there, slowly moving down the hallway into what seemed like the kitchen.

"Jesus, Xander..." Faith tagged along after him, then suddenly winced. "Run! Now!" she exclaimed, giving him a little shove.

"What?" he asked, stumbling over where the carpet met the hardwood floor. He bumped into a table that housed a lamp and it began to topple over. In reaching for the lamp, he let go of the globe and it fell to the ground - not with a THUD! but with the shattering of glass. He almost cried out. "Shit!" he hissed, saving the lamp. He turned towards Faith, glaring with his eye. "Why the hell did you push me?"

Faith pointed just as two enormous white dogs came racing down the stairs at the far end of the hallway. "GO!" she yelled, not having time to wonder about the broken orb.

Xander's eye widened. "Crap!" He ran towards the front door and fumbled with the locks as the dogs' heavy feet pounded loudly on the floor. When he finally got it opened, he rushed out, seeing the lights inside begin to turn on and ran even faster until he was near the restaurant where it all started. He bent over and breathed loudly, trying to catch his breath.

Faith was right behind him, and she grabbed his shoulder. "Okay, NOW is the time to tell me what the hell that was really all about, Xander."

"The old woman in there," he said, glancing inside briefly. "She... she said that she'd help me out. If I got that globe thing for her."

"What? What old woman?"

"The old woman..." He pointed inside the restaurant. "Don't you see her? Sitting right there at the booth?" He looked at Faith. "Oh, come on. You see her!"

"Either you're going crazy, I am, or you've been set up," Faith said as she stared into what looked like an empty restaurant to her. "Stop pointing, okay?"

Xander lowered his hand and stepped back a little. Was he just going crazy? Seeing Anya? Seeing old women? Or just wishing that there was someone out there that could help Anya. "I saw her. She said... she could bring Anya back. If I stole that thing. She said she saw Anya and that Anya wanted to be set free."

"Oh, Xander... I believe you." Faith squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry." Well, this might explain the weird chill she'd been having since arriving in New York. This old lady was probably some kind of demon. "Okay. So... we need a back-up plan here."

"A back up plan?" he asked, looking at her but grateful that she wasn't pissed at him for being so crazy - or at least sounding like he was. "Faith, I don't think there's anything we can do." He shook his head. "Doing the whole 'failing Anya' thing all over again. Man, when's THAT ever gonna stop."

"Xander. You didn't fail her."

"Yeah! What do you think I've been trying to TELL you all this time, you stupid one-eyed goon!"

Xander swerved around at the figure before him. "A-Anya?" he gulped. "You're doing the talking out of your mouth thing."

Anya glanced past Xander at Faith. "My Xander, still master of the obvious..."

Faith shrugged. "Hey, some things never change..."

"And some things do," Anya pointed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Miss Slayer Number Two, I have to beat my former fiance's head in for being so STUPID!"

Xander glanced between the two. "You can see her?" he asked Faith. Then he looked back at Anya. "And... what? Confused man standing right here."

"Sometimes I wonder why I ever wanted to marry you," Anya said, bluntly. "You are sometimes very odd and stupid and dumb. And that's sometimes not very becoming of a man. I'm here because I wanted to tell you that."

Xander just blinked. "You... came all the way... to tell me I'm stupid?"

"Yes. That and you are going to be eaten very soon because you just made an agreement with the Baba Yaga and failed, you dope!"

"You WHAT?" Faith exclaimed, giving Xander an incredulous look. "Tell me you didn't."

"What? What'd I do?" Xander was thoroughly caught off guard. "Still not in the 'know' here, girls!"

"The Baba Yaga," Anya answered as if he should've known. "You know, old woman, very short - and ugly and icky and has warts in places that shouldn't have anything. The lady who likes to eat people when they don't fulfill their part of the deal!"

This was all very new to Xander. He looked at Faith. "You know what that Baby Waga is?"

"No, not really, but it's gotta be pretty bad, right?" Faith asked with a crooked grin. "Seriously, Xander, makin' deals with messed-up old ladies?"

"But... she said that you wanted to be free," he told Anya. "And... I keep seeing you all over the place; what else am I supposed to think?"

Anya's face fell a little. "I know," she said, quietly. "I tried to say stuff, but sometimes being dead takes time to communicate with those who aren't. Sucks sometimes." She glanced at Faith. "It's lucky you have her to kill the Baba before she eats you, though."

"Oh. Yeah." Faith grinned. "Time to kick that ass, huh?"

"Yes," Anya said with a nod. "Yes. You're very good at that. The kicking of ass. And you have to stop her. She's old but she's strong so watch out for those veiny hands of hers. And are you and him going out?" she threw in.

"Uh... yeah," Faith admitted with an easy grin. "You're not gonna haunt us, are you?"

Anya paused. "I guess not. Maybe if he ended up with Buffy or something, I might find a way to haunt you. But, I guess you'll do. Just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. But for some odd reason, I do think he'll watch his step more with you."

Faith grinned. "Or else I'll kick butt. Like I'm about to right now..." She glared at him. "Seriously, X-Man, not your brightest move... Now I gotta slay on an empty stomach."

Xander shrugged at Faith. "Um, sorry?" He glanced back at Anya. "Are you... gonna go now?" he asked.

Anya nodded. "Yes. I ... I really came to tell you... well, 'bye.' Never really got a chance since I got sucked up with the rest of that awful city of death and destruction. And... I also came to tell you that... you didn't fail me, Xander." She drew nearer to her former love. "You loved me like a human being should. Yes, you hurt me like a bitch, but you did love me and I knew that. I think you loved me enough to know we weren't meant to be married." She glanced between the two. "Who knows? Maybe you and her are meant to do that. She probably has better monkey sex than I could ever give; it's all in the stamina, I think."

"Oh, boy," Xander said, slapping his forehead.

"Monkey sex?" Faith repeated, grinning wickedly.

"It's a thing..." Xander began, but realized how none of it would come out correctly.

Faith laughed long and loud. Then she sobered. "Anya... nice seeing you again. You, uh, gonna be okay? There?"

Anya nodded. "Yes, I think so. It's kind of nice over here. Very airy. Sometimes, I get grapes. The harps are kind of annoying at times." She sighed, meeting with Faith's eyes. "But I'll be okay. And you better be good to Xander or I _will_ haunt your ass off." She smiled briefly and sweetly at Faith then back at Xander. "Remember, Xander, you didn't fail. Now either you run right now or let Faith deal with the Baba Yaga that's right behind you!"

Faith was moving before Anya even finished saying 'behind' - she ducked low and spun, kicking with all her might. It was enough to cripple a regular person. Baba Yaga just shrugged it off, literally.

"Hello, pretty," she said, cackling and raising her hands - fingers more like talons - in Xander's direction.

Xander stepped back a little. "Hey, um, about that agreement. I didn't actually break it. I did have the thingy in my hands. It ... just didn't make it out of the house is all. And anyway, why with the importance of it? I can buy you one of those at the local pawn shop easily."

Baba Yaga reached out and wrapped one hand around Xander's throat. "Little fool... I'm going to eat you, you know," she said, ignoring Faith's second kick.

"Eat me?" Xander croaked. "I'm really bad tasting! Very, in fact! I, um, have that gangly taste that most people hate." He looked pleadingly at Faith a moment. "Um, h-how about we make another agreement?"

"What could I possibly want from you, you pasty failure?" Baba Yaga asked. With her free hand, she shoved Faith back a good five yards. "Tell me."

Xander cringed at the action taken on Faith, and he struggled a little as if he was planning to break out. "Can you stop pushing her down like that?" he asked, annoyed, but he had to think fast or else the only dinner they'd be having tonight was him.

"I could shatter her skull and eat her brains," the hideous old crone said in a conversational tone. "Slayer, stay THERE."

Faith stared angrily, but didn't move any closer. Too risky for Xander.

"Uh, how about we... uh, find another orb thing? Um, there has to be someone who has another one. I'll get it for you! Uh, WE will, I mean. Let me take Faith with me, and whatever you want, we can do."

"There are no other orbs. Not in this miserable steel city," Baba Yaga whined. "But... yes. You can help me. Both of you." Her eyes lit up and she began cackling.

"I take that 'nails-on-chalkboard' giggle of yours to mean, um, this could work?" Xander asked. "What is it?"

"I need you to do what Slayers do best," she replied, still cackling.

"Who?" Faith asked, glaring at the crone.

"Dmitri Senin. He's a vampire... you'll hate him."

"Wait, so, you want us - well, HER - to kill a vamp?" Xander asked.

"So smart!" Baba Yaga pinched Xander's cheek.

He glanced at Faith. "Say 'yes'" he mouthed. How could they fail that?

"Fine. Who's this asshat we gotta dust for you? He doesn't have a soul or anything, does he?"

Baba Yaga rolled her eyes. "Of course not. If he did, I would have eaten him long ago... he's a gangster. A thug. But a clever one... He'd sense me coming and run far far away."

"All right. Where's he hang out, then?"

She gave them the address - narrowing it down to 'a mile away' - and then stepped back. "Do the job and I'll find you."

Xander rubbed his throat. "Um, yay," he murmured, stepping a little behind Faith. He took her by the elbow and tried to lead her away, waving at the Baba. "See you soon, then," he said with a grin.

When they were a block away, he let out a sigh. "You CAN do this, right?" He looked around, a little sad that Anya was no longer with them. Maybe she had done what needed to be done and she could actually BE free. So Baba wasn't too far off.

"Well, it could all be some crazy set-up," Faith said. "But..." She shrugged. "One vamp? Long as he's not all bad-ass like Angelus, I think we'll be five by. You wanna sit this one out?"

"What? And let you go at it alone?" He shook his head. "No way. Besides..." He looked around. "Who knows what'll appear. Let's go." He nodded in the direction of where Baba told them.

Faith smiled. "All right."

Twenty minutes later, they reached a somewhat nicer area of the neighborhood. Faith suddenly stopped. "Whoa. Spider sense tingling... and did I really just say that? You're rubbin' off on me, geek," she whispered, looking around the block.

"I never had any tingling of any kind," Xander whispered back then paused. "Well, not in the spider sense, that is."

Russian gangster... so probably the biggest, swankiest house around. She spotted it. "All right. Let's go around back. Watch out for dogs," she said with a wink.

"Ha. Ha." He followed closely behind her, his eyes scanning the area as they approached a large, stone back porch. The moonlight gleamed down on the area.

"Whats we gots here?" came a voice from behind Xander.

He turned around and came face to gun barrel with two mobster dressed vampires. "Oh, boy..."

Faith pulled him down and, yelling "Sorry!", used Xander's back as a sort of trampoline that propelled her right into the two vampires. The guns went flying, luckily neither one went off, and Faith tackled the vampires to the ground. A short flurry of blows later, she got up.

The vampires didn't.

"You okay?" she asked Xander. "Sorry about that."

Xander got to his feet, rubbing his back. "Yeah, but for someone who hasn't eaten, maybe you should lay off on the stuff you do manage to eat." He couldn't help but grin at her. He could be the only guy on earth to say stuff like that and survive... maybe.

"I eats my spinach, what can I say?"

He looked over at where the two vamps had been, grabbing the gun they had left behind. "This could be useful," he said, raising it up.

"You know how to use that?" Faith asked curiously.

Xander went about testing the magazine and popping it back in with relative ease. "Yeah, sort of. You'd be surprised. The stuff I do know." He smiled and had it ready at his side.

Faith grinned. "You're even sexier than I thought," she said, wondering where he'd picked up the art of gunslinging.

"Then you must not have been thinking that much," he commented. "I don't know how much good it would do on vampires, though. I guess we can do the finding out part."

"Well, at least it'll slow 'em down, right?" Faith said as they crept closer to the back door of the mobster's house. She stopped near the door, studying it, then shrugged and threw a rock through it. "We probably want to hurry now."

Xander cringed. "Uh, yeah, nice tactic," he whispered as the house started to light up. Some other vampires started to appear from some doors. "Oops, where do we go?" he asked, pointing the gun towards them and fired two shots. His aim was slightly off, due to the new perspective from the eye patch.

Faith took advantage of the gunshot distraction and tackled the nearest vampire. "Where's Dmitri?" she asked even as she pressed the tip of a stake up against his chest.

"Upsta - " was all he got out before Faith drove the stake home and, before the vampire was even completely dusted, she charged at the other two.

"Go!" Xander said, shooting at two others. "The idea of wooden bullets would be great right now." But he had to make do with what he had. And that was exactly what he was trying to do.

Faith made quick work of her two, then looked back to see how Xander was doing.

She raced up the stairs two at a time, reaching the top and plowing right through the vampire standing there. Unfortunately, the next one - presumably the big boss, judging by the obscene amount of gold medals he was wearing - didn't look to be so easy. "Hey, Dmitri..."

Dmitri was a little confused at the sole vampire guard that ended up on the other side of the room. "What's goin' on here?" he asked, glaring at Faith. "Who the fuck are youse?"

Faith stared at him for a few seconds. "Whoa. You really talk like that? All the time?"

"Comin' from some who sounds like they come from Boston, I wouldn't be talking, bitch," he sneered.

"Oh, yeah. Insult the hometown, that'll make me happy."

"What's a little dame like youse doin', comin' in here?" He pulled out a crossbow from behind his desk.

Faith jumped up on to the desk and delivered a spinning kick to Dmitri before he could pull the trigger. "Kicking your ass, mainly," she told him as she jumped down off the desk.

The chains around his neck weren't exactly there for better fighting moves. He stumbled onto the ground, losing the crossbow as it flew across the room. "Damn! Youse a Slayer, ain't you?" he murmured, trying to reach the crossbow. Not really to use it on her, but getting it before she could use it on him.

"Brilliant! What gave it away?" Faith asked as she made a grab for the crossbow.

He put his hand into his boot as he reached for the crossbow and pulled out a small gun. He turned, swiftly, and fired a shot at her.

Faith grunted as the bullet tore a nasty little gash along her shoulder. "Fucker!" She dived at Dmitri before he could get another shot off and snatched the gun out of his hand - breaking a few of his fingers in the process. "Didn't your mother ever tell you?"

Dmitri screamed in pain, wondering where his guards were. He held his hand, staring at Faith. He had heard about Slayers, knew a few vampires who had met up and didn't survive with them, but he had never come face to face with one. "Wh-What the hell do youse want? I didn't do nothin' to youse, Slayer!"

"You're a vampire. Slayer. Vampire. Do I need to beat you up some more to make it clearer?" Faith asked, sticking the gun under his chin.

Dmitri raised his chin up from the pressure. "I'm just askin'... what do youse want? I-I'll give you anythin'! I know a lot of people, Slayer. I's can get you anything you want." He cringed, just wanting to get her off his back.

"How about you stop talking like Tony Soprano's retarded cousin?" Faith suggested calmly.

"Oh-okay," he said with a nod. "Youse... _you_ got it, Slayer. Now, can we just talk and tell me what you're lookin' for?" Maybe if he bought time, though the gunshots from below weren't a good sign. He smelled the blood coming out of her graze and he stared at it, his arousal going up for blood - Slayer's blood.

Faith gave him a look of complete contempt. "Thing is, Dmitri, I found what I'm looking for... So you have about zero seconds to make me a deal." To emphasize the point, she pushed the gun deeper into his chins, wondering just how a vampire could get fat and deciding she really didn't need or want to know.

"Uh-um... You want me to help off a demon that's on your pretty, little ass of yours?" he offered. "Or how 'bout I make sure none of my kind are around, leave you alone to kill... I mean, 'bother' others."

"Hmm..." Faith pretended to consider the offer, but there was no way this situation was going to end with Dmitri not dust.

The gunshots had stopped downstairs suddenly.

"Who sent you? I know someone had to have sent you 'cause Slayers had all this time to come waltzin' in here, and I ain't done nothing to make you suspicious to come hunt me down."

"The name's Baba Yaga, not that it matters to you. Know why?" Faith asked, smiling sweetly.

"Baba..." Dmitri cursed under his nonbreath. "Damn her. She's not gonna get it!"

"Get what?" Faith demanded, her smile fading to a confused look.

Dmitri looked at the Slayer. "This round thing I's stole from her back in the 30's. Wanted to sell to to the black market, but didn't want her to get her crinkly damn hands on it. Plus, it's gonna cost more on eBay." He shook his head. "I ain't giving it to her. She can go eat whoever she damn well wants to!"

"Oh, that's what all this is about? Thanks!" Faith smiled as she drove the stake through his heart.

"What? No - " POOF!

Find Xander and get the hell out before the cops show up. She wished he'd gone easier on the gunplay...

Downstairs, vampires were sprawled out everywhere, holding their busted kneecaps. They were moaning and groaning, some of them surviving dusting, others wishing they were dusted.

But their groans were the only sounds.

"Where's the boy?" one growled, furious. He was scrambling to his barely there legs. "I'm going to suck him dry!"

"What about the boss?" a second one called. "We gotta make sure he's okay!"

"Too late for that," Faith said. She strolled through the walking wounded and staked them. It was like shooting fish in a barrel and she couldn't help but laugh as they tried to shuffle away.

That done, she looked around for Xander, worried now.

There was a noise from the large kitchen and the figure of Xander came clumsily stumbling out of one of the bottom cabinets. "Ouch!" he cried, slapping to the tile floor. He stood up, wincing. He waved over to Faith. "I ran out of bullets. And table legs. They need to learn to put more wooden furniture here."

"Yeah, well, the next owner can worry about it."

He paused, seeing the blood on her shoulder. "Did you get shot?" he asked.

"Only a little. We don't have time, we gotta get out of here. And fast. NYPD's gonna show up any second," Faith told Xander. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the back door.

"Uh, okay!" he cried, not really having a choice. "So I take it you dusted whoever was up there?"

"Like there was any doubt?" Faith asked as they quickly crossed over the yard.

"Was he just not a big fan of the old woman?"

"Yeah. Can you believe that bitch? This was all about getting ANOTHER fucking Orb," Faith said. "I vote we just get the hell out of New York, Xander."

Xander glanced back at the house then followed as best he could behind Faith. "Going Orb-free," he remarked. "You don't think Baba's gonna come waltzing around and still wanting to eat me 'cause not part of my itinerary for the Big Apple."

"By the time she figures out we split, we'll be halfway to DC. Or wherever," Faith pointed out. "And don't worry. I won't let her eat you."

As they walked towards the motel, he glanced behind him once again. Thanks, Ahn, he thought with a smile.

"So where do you think we should hit next, anyway?" Faith asked as they reached the old motel. "Maybe Charm City?"

"Charm City?" he asked walking them through the lobby.

"Baltimore, Xander. Bawlmer." Faith grinned. "I got into this thing with this nasty cross-eyed vampire there... cured him right before I staked him. It was kinda cool..."

"You cured him? Uh, how's that?"

Faith laughed. "Kicked the shit out of his face. Good times..."

He thought a moment. "What's near here anyway? Maine? Oh, wait, nothing but lobsters. Hey, how about the City of Brotherly Love?" he suggested as he took them up the stairs. "There's always an appeal of a state when 'love' is in its nick name."

"Why wait?" Faith asked as they reached the second floor of the hotel.

"Hey, not stopping with the wait," he said as they entered their room.

"That's what I love about you..." Faith turned and looked him over. "Well, one of them," she added. "Guess we should... pack." shook her head as she got her bags together. "Remember how I was telling you we'd love New York, Xander?"

Xander nodded coming up to her with a damp towel and placing it gingerly on her shoulder.

"Thanks." The wound was already mostly healed, but it still hurt like hell.

"Yeah. You mentioned alligators and all I saw were ghosts and creepy scary women. I know what I _DO_ love, though..." He smiled.

Faith grinned at Xander. "Hot monkey sex?"

"Well, I was gonna go for the tender, sweet answer of 'you,' but yeah, hot monkey sex can fill that blank, too." He kissed her. "Can't we just stay the night? I promise, one weird thing happens, we can do the posty out of dodge thing. Then we can go where the wind takes us... and boy, that was cheesy."

"Shh... let's go back to the 'staying the night' part and work from there," Faith said, pushing Xander over to the bed.

* * *

The next morning, Faith and Xander were ready to go. Exiting their room, Xander was talking about going to Philadelphia. "You think we could see the Liberty Bell? Don't know why, but I've always been interested in seeing..." He trailed when he saw the leggy woman standing in the hallway. "Uh... what was I saying - hi there." He grinned at the woman. "Are you lost? 'Cause I can find." 

The dark-haired woman stared at Xander, smiling wickedly as she looked him up and down... and up and down.

"Xander, don't make new friends," Faith muttered.

"It's good to make new friends, Faith," he said, his eyes stuck to the woman.

"Ohhh, no. I'm an old friend," the woman purred.

"Old friend?" Xander looked closely at the woman; as close was legally possible. "Um, how do I know you?"

Faith placed a hand on Xander's shoulder, squeezing with just a hint of Slayer strength. She wasn't in the mood for his roving eye antics.

"Ouch..." Xander said with a wince, backing off. "Shouldn't your injured shoulder weaken you just a bit?" he whispered to her.

"You forgot me already, dearie? Look into my eyes..." the woman whispered.

Xander glanced at Faith as if for permission then looked back at the woman, squinting slightly. Then it hit him where the eyes were seen once before. "Holy... Baba?"

The woman nodded happily. "So you do have some brains behind that little eye patch," she said, patting him on the cheek. "Thank you, dearie. I couldn't have done it without you."

Xander stepped back a little, nudging Faith a little ahead of him. "Done what... exactly?" He really didn't want to end the meeting as dinner.

"Maybe you don't, then," Baba Yaga said. She grabbed Xander and pulled him close, tilted his head down, then pushed him back. "I'm young again."

"I noticed," Faith said, wondering where this was going. "How the hell - "

Baba Yaga reached into her dress and pulled out a small glass orb. "This."

Xander stared at the orb. "You... got it. From that vampire Faith killed?"

The now-young witch laughed. "He's handsome, dear, but not too bright," she told Faith. "Yes. Thank you for killing him... he was such a tiresome thing."

"This orb... it makes you look hot? I mean, 'young.' YOUNG. Wow." He smiled slightly. "Um, that means no eating, right?"

"Not today, at least," Baba Yaga assured him.

"That's good enough for me, since we're leaving," Faith said.

"Right. Me. Leaving. With her." He pointed to Faith. "My friend of girlness. So... before I do something else stupid, we'll see you later."

The witch smiled cheerfully. "I'm sure you will..."

He waved and pulled Faith back towards the stairs to the lobby to check out. "So, we handled that well."

"No violence, even," Faith pointed out. "Now... let's get the hell outta here. Time to check out the City of Brotherly Love."


	8. Story Six: Philadelphia

**STORY SIX: BROTHERLY LOVE, THE CITY OF**

"This is where you want to take in a late dinner?" Xander asked as they pulled up to a shotty looking shack with a line of Harleys up front. He got off their bike and looked over at the building. Loud voices came from inside along with some random music. "Is this sanitary?"

"Probably not. Who cares? I'll protect you," Faith whispered with a grin. "Besides, they have the best cheese steaks here."

"Just how many places have you been to?" he asked, sticking close to her. "Seems like you've eaten just about everywhere."

"Well, you know. Slaying, H&H," Faith said as they slipped through the door.

They entered into the place and all the large/mid-sized biker boys all turned towards them, some of them stopping in mid-conversation.

Xander just grinned. "Hey, fellas. Just here for the cheese steaks. Nothing to see here."

"Except for that hot chick at your side!" someone called.

Faith rolled her eyes. Good food, bad eaters. She hoped this didn't get stupid.

"Ha ha, fellas!" Xander said to them. "There's no hot chick here... oops, I mean, you know what I mean," he whispered to her as he directed them over to a small table in the corner of the place.

"You're lucky I do." Faith shook her head, bemused by Xander and annoyed by the rowdies. She hoped the rest of their stay in Philly improved from here.

They sat down and Xander kept his eye away from everyone else. "Did you check out that moon when we pulled up here?" he asked. "Pretty, wasn't it?"

"Uh... yeah. I guess." Faith shrugged, studying the menu on the opposite wall. "Good for running around in the dark, at least."

"Not much into the astronomy part of things, are you?" He leaned back in his chair. "But very much into the food part. Hm, so cheese steak. Never had one. Let's see, what sounds like the most edible."

A large frame got in the way of Xander's line of vision. "How much for your girl?" a gruff voice asked, placing a hand on Faith's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

Xander looked up at the biker. "Um, and you see a 'for sale' sign where?" He watched the guy's hand slowly running over her back. "Hey," he said, actually standing up, pointing at the guy. "You might wanna think twice about that, buddy."

"Oh, yeah? You gonna make me think twice?" the burly man asked, sneering at Xander.

"No." Faith grabbed the man's arm and spun him around, twisting his arm up behind his back. "I am," she whispered into his ear. "I didn't come here to play grabass with some greasy asshat. Now go away."

Xander grinned. "That's right," he said as the man stumbled away, slightly stunned. "Gotta protect my woman somehow." He grinned at Faith, gesturing to the seat. "Shall we?"

The man rubbed his arm, glaring at the two brunettes. "Yeah, we shall," he muttered, punching Xander in the face knocking him onto his back. "How do you like that, one-eyed asshole?"

Xander winced, covering his cheek. "Ouch, man. That hurt."

Faith sighed. "Man, why'd you have to go and do that?" she asked, before punching the punk in the face. Unlike Xander, he didn't have a comeback, just laid there in a puddle of drool and spilled beer. "Idiot." She looked around the bar as she helped Xander back up. "This is going to get stupid, isn't it?"

Xander cringed, moving his jaw around. "I REALLY wish it wouldn't," he murmured then looked up and saw that the guy's buddies were surrounding them. "Hey, look, we'll leave!" he said, putting up his hands stepping slightly in front of Faith. "It'll be for YOUR own good, but we'll do it anyway. What do you say?" As he talked, he grabbed Faith's wrist and was inching their way towards the back door.

"But - " Faith sighed. She really liked the cheesesteaks here.

"Leaving so soon? We ain't done!" one of the fallen thug's friends, an even taller and even uglier man, said, stepping into their path.

Xander raised his brows in worry. They really weren't going to get out of there without SOME sort of violence. He sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Man..." Then he suddenly reared his fist back and smashed it hard into the one in the way. "Go!" he called to Faith trying to push her through the door.

"Jesus, Xander!" Faith exclaimed. It was touching, but she WAS the Slayer...

As he did, however, they all attacked, dragging Xander down and onto the floor.

"Dammit!" Faith reached down into the pile and began plucking the goons off of Xander, one at a time. Finally, she threw the last one off and uncovered a rather bloodied and bruised Xander.

"Shit - come on." She helped him up. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Xander ran the back of his hand against his bloody nose. "Now THAT hurt," he murmured. He pressed his hand against his chest as someone had punched him right on there as well. He glanced back at them as they exited through the back.

The first guy to start it all just stood there, grinning. But none of them moved. They just stared.

Faith gave them one last, slightly wary, look, then hurried out before they followed.

When they reached their own motorcycle, Xander was breathing hard. He had to lean on the bike to keep balanced. "Tell me there's another place to get good cheese steaks." He winced. "And make sure they have band aids and maybe an ice pack?"

"I lost my appetite," Faith replied. "Let's just get a room and order in," she said, looking him over. "You all right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I look like meat tenderized, but..." He put his hand to his head as a wave of dizziness hit him.

"But?"

"I'm fine." He smiled at her.

Faith shrugged. He looked like reheated shit, but there didn't seem to be any serious injuries, either.

"I think I like that 'get a room and ordering in' idea. Come on, Xena. Where's the nearest room to get?" He gestured to the bike.

Faith shrugged again as she hopped on the bike. "Must be a Motel 6 around here somewhere..."

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Faith was turning the key in the lock of their new room. Reflexively, she checked out the room, then relaxed. "Coast's clear," she told Xander with a smirk.

"What were you expecting?" he asked, heading straight for the rickety bed and laying on it.

"Who knows?" Faith replied. "Vampires, witches, ghosts... what have we missed so far? Zombies?"

"You're really gonna take my job and jinx the hell out of us, aren't you?" he asked, looking over at her across the room. Maybe he wasn't feeling all that well. He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling tired. The fight had taken more out of him than he thought, especially considering he only managed all of one punch through the entire fiasco. "I'm.. not really hungry."

"Are you sure? You should eat something. Get your strength back..." Faith laughed. "Look at me. Acting like your mommy."

"My mom never looked that hot." He cringed a little. "Ooo, that was NOT a good sentence to come out of anyone's mouth. But yeah, I'm sure. Hey, why don't you go ahead and go out? Find those cheese steaks you've been craving. I don't wanna keep you here just 'cause I'm a poor, poor soul and 'cause I'll miss you a whole heck of a lot. And hey, while you're out, you can get a bunch of bandages, too for your poor traveling buddy and sometimes boyfriend?"

"You're pretty good at that guilt-trip thing, you know," Faith laughed. "I'll just go down the block, okay? Stick around..." She winked as she headed out the door.

Xander nodded. "Not planning on going anywhere," he said, "Thanks, babe!" he called as she left.

Faith hurried out of the hotel and down the street to the all-night convenience store she'd spotted earlier. She bought a thick box of bandages and a six-pack of cheap Mexican beer - just what you needed for a night of motel fun - then headed back out.

And stopped, looking around in the darkness. Something had her on edge all of a sudden. First Baba Yaga, and now this... is this a new Slayer thing? Gotta call B or something, ask her if she's got it, too...

A large animal-type figure came barreling out of some nearby shrubbery. Its one yellow eye watched Faith while the other one was pure white, unable to see through it. The furry canine growled, aiming straight for the dark Slayer, claws out and ready to tear into her.

"Oh, shit - " Faith dropped the bag - glad she'd gotten cans instead of bottles - and kicked the werewolf right in the gut. "Easy there, Snoopy..."

The werewolf growled, staring straight at her with fury as it recovered. It drew slowly nearer, keeping its predatory gaze on the Slayer. Suddenly, it lashed out and smacked Faith right in the head with its heavy paw.

"Dammit!" Faith stumbled. She didn't like the way this was going. She didn't have anything that would only SLOW down a werewolf. Couldn't kill the guy. Didn't want to stay close-in, in case it bit her. Can a Slayer even GET wolfed out? She kicked the wolfman, this time in the face, and then eased back, looking for something she could use to subdue him.

The kick angered the wolf even more. With its good eye, he continued to stare at her and kept drawing nearer and nearer to Faith, waiting. A noise caught its attention and it saw a bunch of drunk teenagers stumbling around and laughing. In that moment, it lost interest in Faith and moved towards the more vulnerable group of people.

"Son of a - " Faith looked around again, then realized she'd have to get violent here. She drew the knife that she always wore and charged after the werewolf, tackling it from behind and trying to pin it down. She held the knife up so the beast could see it. "Get it?"

The teenagers looked up at the fight not too far from where they stood, watching.

The wolf growled and tried to buck Faith off of it, raising another heavy paw to knock Faith away.

"Sorry, man," Faith said, slashing at the werewolf's arm with the knife, deliberately cutting shallow. She wanted to drive this thing off, not maim it. So far.

It growled in pain, this time, finally able to fling Faith away from it. It stood there glaring at Faith then back at the teenagers who were frozen. Blood soaked its arm and it backed away and disappeared into the darkness.

"Wh-what was that?" the first female teen asked Faith. "Was that, like, some big pit bull?"

Faith stared at the girl. "Actually, it was a werewolf, sweetie," she said, smiling cheerfully as she wiped the blood off her knife. "Have a nice night." She turned on her heels and ran off in chase of the werewolf. Fifteen minutes later, she gave up. No sign of it. Maybe it had crawled off to wait out the night...

Ten minutes after giving up the hunt, Faith nudged open the hotel room door. "Hey, sorry, ran into - " She stopped and frowned. Xander wasn't in sight. "Yo! You okay?" she yelled, hearing shuffling in the bathroom.

From inside the bathroom, Xander's voice was muffled. "Uh, I think so..." he said, very unsure. He emerged from the bathroom, his hair wet, face kind of pale. He had new clothes on than from when she left him as thunder boomed lightly. He wore a long-sleeved button up shirt. "Hey, there. What took you so long?"

"Had to do a little dog-catching," Faith said, telling Xander about her encounter with the werewolf.

"You saw a... whoa," he said with a shake of his head. "We can't go anywhere without finding SOMETHING weird. And we thought only Sunnydale and Cleveland were the only hot spots. You okay?" He noticed the faint hint of a bruise on her cheek.

"Ah, I'll live." She handed him a can of warm beer. "Here. Now strip. I wanna see those cuts you got."

Staring at the beer, he shook his head. "I'm fine. I just.. I looked at them when I was in there. Um, they're not TOO bad." He moved his arm and hissed in pain. "This hurts like hell, though."

"What happened to your arm?" Faith asked, staring at it and seeing the blood slowly seeping through. She looked him in the face. "Oh, shit, Xander, don't tell me..."

"Tell you what?" he asked, confused. He pulled his arm out of the sleeve to show her and looked down at the cut. "I think I got cut with some knife when I was in the brawl or something. I didn't really notice it before until I was bleeding all over the bed. We need maid service, by the way."

"Xander, none of those jackasses had knives," Faith said. "But I did," she said, pulling out her own knife, which was still a bit red. "FUCK!"

Xander winced at her sudden outburst. "Well, um, do you always carry a knife? But that's good 'cause of when big furry things attack you. And anyway, what does YOU having a knife have to do with this? It's not like you went after me with it! I think I would've noticed that because I would probably be screaming like a girl." He began to chuckle then realized she wasn't laughing. "What is it, Faith?"

"Take your shirt off," Faith said tersely. "Please, Xander."

Xander blinked and nodded. "Um, okay..." He pulled the long sleeve shirt off, followed by removing the one underneath that. His body was bruised with purple marks and one weird mark on his chest. "Isn't pretty is it?"

"No." Faith knelt down and took a close look at the strange bruise in particular. "Shit. That must be... fuck. We need a Watcher or something," she sighed, then looked up at Xander. "Where have you been all this time?" she asked, hoping it would lead Xander to the same conclusion she'd already arrived at.

"Asleep? I woke up and... I was in the bed." He looked over at the bed. "Kind of... naked."

"Naked?"

"It happens sometimes." He laughed nervously. "Okay, not without me knowing. Wait..." He looked at her. "Are you...? You don't think...?" He looked down at the one bruise on his chest and realized that it wasn't just some random marking. It was a marking of something. He touched it lightly.

"Yeah, I do," Faith said glumly. "Fuck."

Xander didn't know what to think about it. "I'm pulling an Oz?" He stood up, frazzled. "Oh, man. And I attacked you, didn't I? Oh, man... not wanting to be a werewolf right now! Right ever!" He ran his hand through his hair, wincing at the cut. "What... how?"

"Those biker bitches," Faith said, wearily sitting down on the bed. "I can't believe it. Fuck. We'll have to - What do we do?"

"Wait, wait! I thought you can only become a werewolf if one of them BIT you. I would definitely have known if I was bitten by one of those guys. You think..." He looked down at the mark again. "This has something to do with it? I know one of them punched me here - hard. He was even wearing a stupid ring when he did it." He rubbed it and grimaced.

"A ring?" Faith bit her lip. "You think that did it? So - how does that work? Some kind of magic werewolf ring?"

"Hey, I don't know. Do I have 'watcher' written on my forehead?" He closed his eye. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to snap at you." He sighed, slipping his shirt back on. and wincing in pain. "Maybe we should just go back there and politely ask. Maybe YOU should, and I can... be locked away somewhere," he added glumly.

"Locked away?" Faith looked down at the floor. It was probably the best idea. But where? "All I have is a pair of handcuffs. Doubt they'd work."

Xander knitted his brows. "What are you doing with a pair of handcuffs?" he automatically asked.

"It was a birthday surprise," Faith answer coolly.

"For me?" he asked with a smile. "Well, don't get it all broken. If I live through this, I'm expecting an early surprise." He sighed walking over to the window. He saw the black sky as rain began to fall. "The moon's gone. Maybe that's why I'm ... me." He turned back to her. "I think I'll be okay for a little bit. I'll go with you. But promise me one thing, okay?" He came up to her, his face solemn.

"What?" she asked, a trifle nervous from the look on his face.

He held her arms, trying to smile for her. "Don't hold back next time. I really don't want to hurt anyone when I'm all... furry. It would royally suck."

"Xander, I..." She trailed off. "We'll see."

He hugged her. "So, we're gonna go see us some biker boys?" he asked, trying to hide his worry.

"Hell yeah," Faith said with the same false bravado. "Too bad we don't have any pliers..."

Xander blinked. "Pliers? What for?" he asked, then it dawned on him. "Oh. Ouch. Maybe we can think of another way for them to reverse this... um, assuming it can be reversed." His face fell a little. How could they be sure it could be? Oz was still a werewolf the last they saw him. Which meant...

"Well, that's what's so weird about this," Faith said as they walked down the hall to the elevator. "That's not a bite mark on your chest," she told him. "So... fuck. We really need to find a Watcher, Xander. Let's just find these idiots and beat the shit out of them."

A bit later...

Faith kicked open the door to the bar and strode in. "Hey, bitches," she said, grinning cheerfully at the biker werewolves. "Miss me?"

The lead guy turned at the sight of Faith and Xander, who was kind of lingering behind her. "Well, well, guess who's back!" he said to his friends who were spread out in the other tables.

"Yeah, guess who?" Faith counted the goons. Just five. Not too bad. She could take five.

"Come back for more, baby?"

Faith gave him a disdainful look. "Please. Ask me again when I'm really bored..."

He gulped down part of his beer. "Just resting while the storm is kinda going on outside. Just ended so the clouds will be clearing up soon. Am I right there, buddy?" He looked at Xander with a grin.

Xander was bracing himself against the wall, sweating and dizzy suddenly.

"See, that's the thing," Faith said, walking up to the lead biker. "I think he's hairy enough right about now. So this is what's going to happen. You're going to do your voodoo or whatever and make it so he doesn't turn into a dog when the clouds pass."

The lead biker looked her up and down. "What'll you do for me if I do? I got a few ideas, honey. Right before the moon shows itself, I get me a little... well, you know. Maybe you can ease it. Then we can talk about seeing if we even CAN get your boytoy back to his self. Can't really guarantee nothing, though."

"Hm." Faith scratched her jaw with one hand, then pointed down at her other hand - which was holding a knife about a millimeter away from the biker's privates. "What does that guarantee?" she asked in a husky whisper.

He frowned, not having remembered her even moving to grab a knife. He met her eyes, trying not to feel threatened by this GIRL. "You're playing outta your league, baby. You got maybe less than 15 minutes before we do our thing. That knife isn't gonna help you." He put his hand out. "Now hand it over before your hurt your sweet self."

"Fifteen minutes? I could have you skinned and grilling in ten," Faith countered, glaring at the biker. "Trust me. Unless you want a demonstration." She twitched her knife hand a bit. "Fix Xander, or I'll fix you."

"Faith!" cried Xander as two bikers were coming up behind her and reaching out to take her arms. He was really fighting the sickness he was feeling, knowing it was coming. He stood up, wobbly, and tried to move forward only to stumble right on his face.

"Fuck!" Faith grabbed the lead biker by the arm, spun him around and pressed her knife up against his throat. She swivelled around so that she was facing the two wannabe-rescuers. "All right. Everyone who doesn't want to get the shit kicked out of them, get out now." Most of the customers hurried out, with only two remaining in one of the back booths. Faith glared at the stay behinds, then shrugged. Okay, fine. They can watch the show. "This is my last warning before I start cutting. Frankly, I don't give a crap. We'll just hole him up in the meat locker until dawn, then figure out another way to cure him. But if you guys don't wanna end up on the menu, I suggest you lend us a hand. Now."

The two bikers stopped, seeing their leader in sudden danger. The leader squirmed, surprised at how he couldn't easily break his beefy arms out of her. But the knife was very much too close to try harder.

Then there was a click behind the two ready bikers.

Xander had found his way to his feet and had produced the gun that he had used back at Dmitri's house. He pointed to one of the two. "You heard her," he said, his trigger hand shaking a little. "I might be a bad aim with the feeling of the bad, but at this close range, I would hit something."

"Trust me, I've seen him shoot. He'll miss right where you don't want him to," Faith whispered.

The leader cringed as the blade cut slightly. "Okay!" he cried. "I'll-I'll tell you!"

"Okay. Tell."

"He has... he has to come to me," the leader told Faith. "Uh, close to me."

"Why?" Faith asked suspiciously. "Don't try and screw us..."

"I'm not, baby, I swear. My ring. On the-the arm that's behind my back. I hafta ... brand him a-again with the symbol of the wolf."

"You hafta? Or can anybody?" Faith asked, still holding him firmly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the two stay-behind customers were gone now. "Well?"

"Just me. I'm the only one who possesses the power, I swear it!" He squirmed under her, hoping to break out.

"Quit it," Faith snapped, tightening her grip on him.

The sweat on Xander's forehead was dripping down as the minutes ticked on. "Faith... I... I'll do it. I don't have much of a choice."

"Okay. But pull anything and I'll gut you," Faith warned the biker, releasing him just enough so he could move his arms a little.

The leader nodded, suddenly believing it.

Xander kept the gun trained on the two other bikers as he made his way closer to Faith and the leader. When he was within arm's reach, he lowered the gun. "Okay, here..." He cringed, holding his stomach.

"The newbies are always the ones who feel it the most. Wussies," the leader added. He pulled his arm out from behind him, making a fist and looking at the ring on his middle finger.

Faith just stood her ground, then cleared her throat. "Quit stalling, big guy," she said.

Damn, he thought. "Come here," he ordered Xander.

Xander stumbled forward. "Can we do the hurrying please?"

The leader grabbed the back of Xander's neck and slammed his fist into Xander's chest - hard. He kept his fist there and began chanting something in what sounded like Old English, something you wouldn't expect from a large biker.

Xander squirmed and let out grunts of pain, falling forward when the lead biker had released him.

"There," the lead biker said. "It's done."

"Xander? You okay?" Faith asked, staring down at him in concern.

Xander couldn't answer, just put his hand up and made an 'ok' symbol. "I need some help getting up, though, and... just saying, I think we should hurry."

"Good point. Nice meeting you, chuckles," Faith said, shoving the lead biker away and hurrying to help Xander to his feet. "If he wolfs out... snip," she said, waving her knife and then helping Xander out the door.

Xander tried to get his balance just as he heard the bikers start to get their bearings together. He got to the bike and waited for Faith to start it up and take them away. He hugged her from behind and leaned his head against her, still not feeling 100. "Babe, next time you get a craving for local food, can I choose the place? I TOLD you this place wasn't sanitary."

"You can choose the place... you can even choose the fucking city. My choices are all washes," Faith laughed as they tore down the streets of Philly. "Where to next, then, mighty leader?"

Xander heard the howling behind them and glanced back. "Uh, how about as far away from here as possible?" He then hugged her again, going through the list of cities in his head. "Ever wanted to see the White House?"

"DC, huh? Well, it ain't that far, but... sounds good to me." She wished she could hug him back. "Or... we could go back and kick the shit out of the werewolves."

"That's a big fat 'no' if I ever heard one. Besides, there so much dirt going on in our nation's capital, there can't be room for supernatural crap, right?"

"Yeah..." Faith was unconvinced - she wanted to pound the werewolves flat for what they'd done to Xander, but the sudden appearance of about ten police cars changed her mind. She eased over as the squad cars raced past. "Okay. You win. Let's split," she said with a laugh.


	9. Story Seven Pt 1: Wash, DC

**STORY SEVEN: THE D.C. AREA, and then some... (Part 1)**

"Georgetown is a pretty cool place," Xander said as they sat at a bar in the said part of Washington D.C. It was their first night in the town, and hanging out in a bar with bunch of college students sounded safe enough. "It's got good beer." He held up his mug. "Plus, I don't feel the wolfman coming on so that's a plus."

"Definitely. I like you better this way," Faith said, slamming her own empty mug down on the bar.

"Good because I didn't like the those birthday handcuffs to only be used those three nights," he said, giving her a kiss.

"You ever been here before?" she asked him.

"Faith, I haven't seen the light of day outside California all my life until now." He looked around. "This place has got very nice college girls.. I mean, college atmosphere." He sipped his beer to cover up his slip. "You?"

"With you on the whole college girls thing," Faith said with a wink. "But - no, never been here. Passed through on the way down south a few years ago, that's all." She frowned and looked around, then laughed. "Oh, man. I can't believe it."

Xander scanned the area. "What? What is it?" he asked, alarm. "Do we need to run?"

"Well, you might wanna," Faith said with a grin. "Check your six."

"My six what? Oh, you mean..." He looked in the direction she was referring to and saw the familiar figure of Mexico Ana dancing with a few of the college boys. "Well, I guess she found her way out of the Mexican jungle." He smiled, drinking his beer.

"Yeah... Wonder what's she doing here," Faith murmured. "It better not be a Slayer thing." Judging by the enthusiasm Ana was putting into her dancing, it didn't LOOK like she was concerned with Slaying at the moment. "You gonna go fetch her, or you want me to?"

Xander put the mug down on the bar. "This is a job for me," he said with a grin. "I'll be back." Smiling at her, he still wondered what the hell he did to deserve Faith. With that, he made his way through the crowd and came up behind the Latina, tapping Ana on the shoulder. "Hey, can I see some I.D., ma'am?"

Ana turned and frowned, then grinned. "Senor Xander! Mi amor, mi corazon," she purred, putting her arms on his shoulders. "What are you doing in Washington?" she asked as she pulled him into a dance.

Xander tried his darndest to be just as smooth as her in dancing. But that was never going to be the case. "Just checking out the sights," he said with a smile. "And how about you? What's a hottie like you making her way out east? Wanted to know who runs the U.S. of A? I can tell you now, just a bunch of politicians."

"Ohh... I don't care about politics," Ana sniffed. "Eet's all money, and that's boring," she told him. Then she glanced past him and spotted the other Slayer. "Oh. You're still with her, Xander?" Ana laughed.

Xander grinned, nodding. "Amazing, huh? Amazing she's still with ME. C'mon, I think she wants to say 'hey' to you." He nodded in her direction, allowing Ana to lead the way.

"All right." Ana reluctantly left the dance floor and headed over to Faith and Xander's table. "Hola, Senorita Slayer," she said.

"Hey. What brings ya do DC?"

Ana yawned. "My father, he's at some big thing at the embassy here. So he asked me to come and visit with him before he left for Mexico again. It's all boring... so I came here to have a leetle fun. What about you two?"

Xander sat down next to his beer again. "Oh, we're just passing through. Trying to avoid any run ins with... lots of things, actually. It's been a rough few nights. Werewolves and stuff."

"Werewolves?" Ana asked, then shrugged when Faith gave her a 'don't ask' look.

He sipped his beer again. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Ohh, my hero. Yes please. Tequila!"

"Actually, can I REALLY see I.D?" Xander told Ana with a quirk of a brow. "Not here to encourage underage drinking, you know."

"Xander!" Ana moped, then dug around in her purse, finally producing a Mexican matricula ID card. She stared at it, grinned and put it away. "Wrong one," she explained, handing Xander another ID. "See? I'm old enough for tequila."

"Yeah, I'll..." Faith's voice trailed off.

Xander was about to get up to get the bartender when he noticed her expression. "Faith, hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, I think," Faith said. "Don't look now, but the couple two tables over, near the jukebox... weren't they at the place in Philly?"

Xander glanced over at said table and knitted his brows together. "Um, I was kinda busy being... all wigged to look. But I think they kinda stuck around for the fight. Oh, man, you don't think they're gonna come arrest us, do you?" he asked, glancing over at Faith. "The gun wasn't even loaded."

"Arrest us? And - shit, it wasn't? Damn, Xander." Faith shook her head. "You've got a pair. Not that I didn't know that already," she confided to Ana, who snickered.

"Okay, let's keep the girl talk when it's just you girls," Xander said, reddening all of a sudden.

"Go get the drinks," Ana said. "These people will notice you noticed them."

"Ahh... too late," Faith said, watching as the two of them - a slender woman with short brown hair and a tall, almost black-haired man with a medium build, but with a grace that hid more- started towards their table.

"Oh, good timing," Ana moaned. "I don't really know you..."

Xander smiled as they came up to them. "Hi there!" He waved. "Wasn't encouraging underage drinking, I promise." He grabbed Ana's fake I.D. "See? Over 21! And, um, me, too!"

The man and woman exchanged glances. "That's great. You're still under arrest," the woman said with a cheery smile.

"Me?" Ana squeaked. "I didn't do anytheeng!" she protested miserably.

"Neither did I," Faith said.

"I didn't do anything either!" Xander piped in.

"What the hell is this?"

"Oh, nothing, just a little case of national security," the woman replied a little too casually.

"Come with us, please," the man added, an unspoken 'or else' hanging in the air.

Xander looked around the bar, all the college kids. He snaked his hands towards both Faith's and Ana's hands, holding them both. He got up. "Uh, you know, we make it a rule NOT to be involved in anything of national security. So, we just wanna keep following that, sir. And ma'am." He pulled at the two Slayers, away from the table.

"Are you gonna make this a thing?" the woman asked, her pleasant smile turning into a hard look. "You really don't want to."

"A... thing?" Xander asked. "Oh, no. Definitely NOT wanting this thing to become a thing." He leaned in a little, still holding onto the Slayers. "Just what exactly is this thing?"

"A thing is where a dozen or so commandos come crashing in, we all fight, you lose, and you come with us in the end anyway," the guy grumbled, cracking his knuckles for emphasis.

"That kinda thing," the woman confirmed with a nod.

"Okay, that's fun, but why don't you tell us what the hell this is about before you get all Rambo and GI Jane?" Faith demanded.

The brunette shrugged. "Can't talk about it here. Classified." She looked at the three of them, finally settling on Xander. "Oh, by the way, Captain America told me to tell you he said 'hi' and that he still hates Spike more than you do," she told him. "I guess you'll know what that shit means?"

Xander's eye widened, a grin suddenly spreading across his face. "Riley?" he asked. "I mean, Agent Finn or whatever you call him. You know him?"

"Yeah." The woman smiled crookedly. "We work for the same outfit. And usually we call him Agent Frag Him," she added under her breath. "So. Are we all friends now?"

"Um, no." Faith cleared her throat. "That's great that you know Riley, but that still doesn't explain what you want with us."

"I told you - "

"Yeah, yeah, classified. I'm not really big on the cloak and dagger stuff, you know."

"And I'm not even American," Ana pointed out.

"So tell us what's what."

"In public?" The woman sighed. "He was right, they really aren't keen on operational security..." she told her companion.

"What can you expect from civilians?" the male stranger told the woman. "Especially these two." He nodded towards Faith and Ana. "Look, this is too crowded of a place to reveal any classified information. It's best if we just go out of here, and talk, and we'll tell you all about what we're here for. Got it, Slayers?" He whispered that last sentence.

"Oh, great." Faith rolled her eyes. She glanced at Ana, who gave a nervous little nod. The Mexican girl did not like the twist her evening of partying had taken.

"Okay. Walk and talk."

"See? I knew you could listen to reason." The woman smiled. "By the way, I'm Agent Rutherford."

"That's nice." Faith followed the two Initiative agents out of the club, wondering if they should try Peoria or Erie, PA next to avoid this kind of thing.

"Agent Shapiro," the man answered as they led the two girls and the one guy towards a limo waiting on the side of the building. He stopped, looking up and down the street seeing it was fairly abandoned. "Now, we know who you are. All of you."

"Even me?" Xander asked, pointing to himself.

"Yes, Mr. Harris, even you. Especially you. Agent Finn spoke pretty highly of you - although..." He let his next, not-so-nice comment go as Xander grinned. "But we're actually interested in these two. Ana. And Faith." His gaze lingered on Faith. "Specifically you."

"Me? Why?" Faith asked, hesitating at the limo's door.

"We need your help," Rutherford replied, obviously with the greatest reluctance.

"Heh. Uncle Sam Needs Me." Faith laughed. "What's the deal?"

"Inside the limo," the agent said.

Xander held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa. Okay, I trust Riley if he was standing right here telling me what you're telling me. But you suits, not really."

"I'm not a suit!" Rutherford protested indignantly.

Agent Shapiro rolled his eyes towards Rutherford. "Mr. Harris, we're not going to hurt any of you, if that's what you're worried about."

"No experiments?"

Rutherford glowered. "That bitch Walsh. She's ruining it for the rest of us."

Shapiro gave her a quick look before glancing back at the group. "No. None. Now get in. Don't make us use force; we really don't want to do that."

"I'd like to see you try," Faith replied, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Yeah, it'd be really amusing for everyone," Rutherford said. "Can we all just get in the car? They might be listening in, okay?"

"Who?" Ana wondered.

"The guys I can't talk about because they might be listening in!"

"Uh, girls, I think we just better get into the car," Xander said, gesturing for them to go in first. "Sorry, they're kind of stubborn," he told Rutherford and Shapiro.

"Yeah, well, we don't know ANYBODY like that." Rutherford glanced at Shapiro. "Not a word," she warned him.

When they were inside the limo, Shapiro took out a cell phone and told them to secure the road ahead. When he hung up, he looked at the Slayers. "Okay, you want to know why."

Faith nodded. "Yeah, we do. Who and what, too."

"All right, fair enough. I'll dumb it down for you," Rutherford said. "There's a cult of demon-worshiping ninjas in DC who are trying to summon their god from another dimension. We don't have the manpower to stop them. And that's where you enter the picture."

"Demon-worshiping ninjas..." Faith nodded slowly.

Rutherford grinned. "Hey, it's the truth." She pulled a briefcase off the seat next to her and, after tapping in an entry code, popped it open. "Here. Top secret." She handed each of the three passengers a thick manilla envelope marked TOP SECRET.

"Whoa, she wasn't kidding," Xander murmured at the large type. "No tricking us." He frowned. Lots of reading.Is there a cliff's notes version of this?"

Shapiro shook his head, closing his eyes.

"That IS the Cliff's Notes version," Rutherford explained.

"Oh, man," Shapiro murmured. He looked over at the Slayers. "Ana, you weren't intended to take part in this mission, but when we learned of your presence here, we decided to take advantage of that. Having two Slayers on this mission would make it easier on you both." He looked over at Faith. "You, on the other hand, we intended. We've been following you for a while now, Faith. You have more skill than any of the other Slayers in the world, except for possibly one. We think you'll do well in the mission - and survive."

"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Plus..." He quirked a brow towards Rutherford, though still talking to Faith. "You have more at stake."

"Yeah. Those old warrants on you out in California are still valid," Rutherford said. "Just saying."

"Fuck you." Faith flipped through the dossier about the demon ninjas - the Hand. "I'll do your job, but don't try to blackmail me."

"Wait," Xander said, looking up at his notes as well. "Blackmail?" He knitted his brows together. "Are you saying that you'll toss her back in jail if she doesn't do what you say?" The thought hadn't occurred to him about Faith's still broken relationship with the law. It was no wonder she wanted to run every time the authorities had the possibility on arriving on the scene. He glanced worriedly at Faith.

"Exactly," Shapiro answered. "All it takes is one call and the police will take care of it all. But we're trying to be civil, and we don't want to resort to that."

Rutherford shifted, uncomfortable, and said nothing for a few seconds. "Harris, you're a civilian. So - "

"So... what?" Xander asked, looking at Rutherford. "I don't get to join in the fun of ninja hunting?"

"You think it's fun? Have you ever MET a ninja?" Rutherford asked. She turned to Faith. "Is he dumb or just really brave?"

"Xander can take care of himself, Miss Agent Girl," she replied.

"Plus, it was called sarcasm," Xander said, flatly. "They don't teach you that in CIA kindergarten? Oh, what I just said there - also sarcasm."

"Hey, easy there, no offense. Also - 'Rachel' works better."

Faith just went back to flipping through the dossier. "Okay. So these freaks want to steal an old sword from the Sumida Gallery. And you want us to be there waiting."

"That seems simple enough," Ana said hopefully.

"That's sweet that you think so," Rachel replied.

"Just how many of them are we expecting to infiltrate anyway?" Xander asked, trying to flip through the paperwork to find the answer to his own question.

"Forty. Give or take."

"Well, I highly doubt they'll ALL come to the Gallery," Shapiro answered. "Their strength is stealth." He leaned back in the leather seat. "Rachel, I think we shouldn't put Mr. Harris in the equation."

Rachel gave Xander a thoughtful look, then shrugged. "It's up to him. These guys are serious, Harris. It won't be pretty."

"Hey, I haven't left this gal's side yet," Xander stated, thumbing towards Faith. "But, I've been reading this brief, and I think I'll be kinda in the way of all these flying ninja stuff. I want to be a part of this, though."

Shapiro glanced over at Rutherford. "Surveillance?"

"Yeah." She smiled at Xander. "You get to watch me play with millions of dollars of cutting edge technology. Fun, huh?"

"Beats getting in the way of ninjas and Slayers," Xander said with a smile.

"Can we hurry this up? My dad is going to notice if I'm not back at the Embassy by three," Ana said.

"Good then," Shapiro said with a nod. He told the limo driver to get them to the surveillance van to grab any weapons and to drop off Xander and Rachel.

Xander put his hand on Faith's knee, leaning in and giving her a peck on the cheek. "Never a dull moment, huh? You're gonna be okay, right? Remember, I'll be watching."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Always wanted to beat the shit out of a ninja," she told him, wishing she could give him a real kiss. But the audience was a bit much.

* * *

"All right. This is your standard closed-frequency mike," Rachel said, handing sleek black headsets to Ana and Faith. "It's fixed so the whole unit can hear you, so don't share any dark secrets."

"Yeah." Faith put the headset on and tapped the mike. "Whee. I liked the Kevlar better," she said, patting her bulletproof vest. She wondered if they'd let her keep it - and the big ass automatic rifle, too.

Ana was fiddling with her own rifle, aiming the laser pointer at various objects around the inside of the van. "Cool."

Xander sat in the chair, watching the show. "Seeing you in Kevlar is turning me on," he teased Faith.

Shapiro glared over at Xander as he adjusted his own uniform.

Xander winced.

"Finally..." Rachel pulled a large case off one of the racks on the side of the van. She opened it and swung it around so Faith and Ana could see inside. "You girls know how to handle swords?"

"They get guns AND swords?" Xander asked. "Not fair."

Shapiro looked at the swords. "I'm sure they're more capable with the swords more than the rifle. Am I right?"

"Wrong." Ana grinned. "My father took me hunting with him all the time when I was young." She held the rifle close. "I'll be fine with this."

Faith smiled a little. "You better not be fucking with me. I don't wanna get shot in the ass."

Ana smirked. "Trust me."

"Okay, is the female bonding over?" Rachel asked impatiently.

"Yeah, it's over." Faith picked up one of the swords and checked the sharpness. "Not bad."

"Ten thousand bucks. Don't lose it."

"Uh-huh." Faith sheathed the sword and slung it over her shoulder. "Xander..."

Xander was playing around with some of the safer looking buttons when he heard his name. He looked up. "Yeah? Hey, looking very... Amazonian. The vest make your shoulders look bigger."

"My shoulders, huh?"

Ana rolled her eyes. "Faith, let's go kill the monsters, please?"

"Yeah..." Faith kissed Xander. "Now I'm ready."

Shapiro let out an exasperated sigh as Xander grinned from ear-to-ear. "Can we depart now?" He opened the van and motioned for the Slayers to follow. They would have to cross two blocks to get to the back of the Gallery.

Shapiro kept low as he moved through the grounds. "Are you girls still with me?" he asked, not hearing anything behind him. Maybe they weren't as fast as the reports say.

Up ahead, there was a soft whistle. Ana waved back at Shapiro, then made a 'come on' gesture.

Shapiro glanced up ahead and frowned when he saw Ana. "What the hell...?" he murmured, wondering how they'd gotten ahead. Then he sighed and moved towards them, crouching beside the two Slayers. "Okay, this is the best side to see if anyone is going to sneak in. Keep those ears and eyes open since you supposedly have better both than the average person." There was skeptism in his tone, as had been since they met.

Faith shrugged. "No supposing about it," she whispered, then slipped a few feet away to get a better vantage point.


	10. Story Seven Pt 2: Wash, DC

**STORY SEVEN: THE D.C. AREA, and then some...(Part 2)**

Inside the van, Rachel tapped a few buttons. "And now the fun begins," she murmured, staring at the row of monitors - mostly security cameras from inside the Gallery.

"Your partner doesn't like Slayers much, does he?" Xander asked, eyes also riveted on the monitors before them.

"Ahh..." Rachel shrugged. "He's an ex-Green Beret. The idea of teenage girls who can throw him around like a football's kinda weird." She turned and looked at him for a second. "It is kinda weird, don't you think?"

Xander looked over at the brunette and shrugged. "At first, it was kinda weird to think it. But after meeting Buffy, you can pretty much believe any girl could do it." He got a little wispy at the mention of his old friend. "Especially since I was thrown like a football by Faith once."

"You were? Ow."

"Word of caution: never get in the way of two Slayers fighting." He looked back at the monitors. "But they have it rough."

"Yeah, well... lot of that in the world," Rachel pointed out.

Xander picked up on the tone of her voice, making him look over at her. "Yeah, you're telling me." He pointed to his eye patch.

"Oh... sorry." Rachel bit her lip.

"It's no big. Weird boating accident," he teased. Then he softened. "We can do the talking scene. You know, while we wait. I'm sure being in this undercover government stuff really can be a rough gig."

"Actually, you know the story," Rachel replied. "I mean, most of it. Probably."

"Since we're only doing the 'just met' deal, not really. I may have run around with the Slayer most of my young adult life, but knowing what it's like to be in a government position, not so much." He leaned on the console. "Tell me about it; then I can tell you all about the life of a friend of a Slayer." He smiled, hoping to ease her sadness, whatever it was.

"No, I mean it. The whole 'Initiative gets blown to shit by Frankenstein' thing?" she asked glumly. "I'd show you the medal they gave out for being there, but there wasn't one."

"Whoa, you were there?" Xander asked, raising his brows. "Man, that was... I mean, it was intense. Nearing grotesque. Sorry you had to live that. I was... kinda safe and sound in a room."

Rachel shook her head. "That's the thing. I was safe and sound wandering around Chambers Park during it all. Testing this - well, a magic detector, basically." She stared down at the monitors. "I heard it all, though," she added.

Xander frowned. "Yikes," he said, his gaze dropping. "Wow, Rachel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I didn't mean to bring it up. There was a lot of loss. I did tell you that sometimes, I just don't bring up the best of subjects at times."

"It's okay." She managed a shaky grin. "Long time ago..."

"Yeah, it was," Xander said. "Have you ever talked to anyone about it, though? Sometimes it helps. I know it helped me all the times I was faced with pending end of the world stuff." He smiled, trying to play it off as a joke.

"Well, there was the Army shrink..." Rachel shrugged. "Didn't do much good, since he wasn't cleared, so all I could do was make up a lot of shit and not tell him any true details."

"Oh, see, that's not REALLY talking about what happened. I play a good shrink."

"You do, huh?" she asked with a laugh. "That's not in your file."

"It's a secret weapon I have that I like to keep... well, secret." He leaned back in his chair. "You can tell me the stuff you couldn't tell him. It'll pass the time away for us surveillance guys - and gal."

"Well..." Rachel considered it for a few seconds, then nodded. "But hold that thought." She tapped one of the buttons on the console in front of her. "Base to Shapiro. Status check."

"We're still scanning the perimeter," Shapiro answered over the radio. "Nothing so far."

"Roger... base out," Rachel said, then let go of the radio button. "Okay... so..." Rachel stared at Xander. "You're the expert. Analyze me."

Xander leaned forward a bit. "Uh, I'm not good with the analyzation... or as some call it, analysis." He cleared his throat. "I just know, seeing the things you saw kinda invade your mind and your nightmares more often than you wanna. Sometimes you probably wake up screaming or something. And this stuff." He indicated the buttons and console all around them. "Is just some way of either keeping you distracted from it all or keeping you closer to it all so you can keep an eye on it." He scooted his chair forward, pulling some wires with it but it loosened and he managed to move just a little nearer.

Rachel bit her lip. "Shit," she said.

"What is it?" Xander asked, trying to adjust the chair with confusion. "Is this chair also of the $1,000 range?"

"Huh? No! It's just - well, shit," she repeated. "All of that... hitting close to home," she mumbled.

"What?" He looked at her with raised brows. "I got it right?"

"Yeah... Well, that and I like playing with expensive toys," Rachel confessed. "You sound surprised... were you just pulling that out of your ass or something?"

"Well, no. Not exactly." He leaned back a little again, finally getting settled. "I mean, I just thought... I felt that way for a long time, Rachel. The first time I saw something I didn't believe? 10th grade. I was already messed up as it was; didn't need vampires roaming around my hometown. I've only told one person about the nightmares I had soon after the first time. After that, I just... well, it was nice to know I wasn't the only one going through it, you know?"

Rachel nodded slowly. "It's..." She smiled sadly, apparently at a loss for words. "Well... thank you," she finally said. "Really."

Xander reached out and grabbed her hand, patting it with a grin. "Hey, no problem. Your bill will be in the mail."

"Right on. I'll pass it on to the paymaster," she said with a laugh and a little squeeze of his hand.

* * *

Ana raised the rifle up and stared through the Starlight Scope. "Cool," she murmured, scanning the gardens around the Gallery. "I want one of these..." 

"Well, you can't have it," Shapiro informed the young Slayer. He looked around through his night vision binoculars. "They should be arriving soon. The gallery closed not even an hour ago."

"They better come soon," Ana said, lowering the rifle for a few seconds. This was becoming boring.

"Pfft. Head's up." Faith's voice came over the radio. "Coming up near the fountain."

"Good work," Shapiro said in the radio. "On your fences, girls. We'll let them get as near as possible before we hit them. How many to do you see, Faith?"

"Six."

"I see them," Ana said, peering through the scope again. "Can I shoot?" she whispered.

"No!" Shapiro snapped in a hiss.

"But - "

"No shooting until absolutely necessary. That's why I have you two here. We'll take them down in close combat until we have to resort to the weaponry. Now let's meet up with Faith." He crept closer to where he could see the black figures move silently through the shrubbery. "Faith, cut them off at the side entrance."

"Yeah. Ana, shoot them," Faith said, taking aim.

Ana grinned and aimed at one of the ninjas, then squeezed the trigger at the same time as Faith. Across the lawn, two black-clad figures suddenly fell over.

Shapiro grunted as the ninjas produced their weapons and charged towards the gallery. "Go, attack!" He put the gun up to his line of vision and took aim, taking one down.

"Si, jefe," Ana muttered. She took one more shot, then set the rifle down and raced towards the ninjas just behind Faith.

Both Slayers made short work of the first wave - unfortunately, there were about a dozen more where they came from, and the next group wasn't taken by surprise.

Faith took back her wish to fight a real ninja pretty quick. These guys were almost as fast as she was, and they knew how to use a sword like something out of a Hong Kong movie.

Shapiro swung around as he felt a presence behind him, hitting the ninja in the face. But he only stumbled and lashed out with the sword. Shapiro jumped back, the blade slicing the Kevlar vest. "Shit!" He ducked and barely had time to move out of the way of the blade again. These guys were FAST as hell. He turned and ran towards the gallery when he saw that the doors were already smashed in. "Dammit. They're in! They're in!"

"I heard you the first time," Faith said, rushing past Shapiro, knocking down the ninja attacking him, and jumping through the open door. She kept right on moving, slashing at the nearest ninja. "Can we kill these guys, Boss?" she asked over the radio. Silence. "Hello? Oh, fuck... million dollar gear, my ass," Faith snarled, kicking at another ninja.

Shapiro let out a breath after the ninja was knocked clear off of him. He followed behind her, pulling out a taser and using it on one ninja who tried to come up behind Faith. "Where the hell is Ana?" he asked. He talked into the headphones. "Rutherford, this is Shapiro. What's our status on the grounds? Hello? Rachel?"

"Forget that! Watch out," Ana said, tackling the ninja who was about to skewer Shapiro from behind. "The radio is broken," she announced, somewhat redundantly at that point.

"Dammit!" Shapiro said, throwing his headphones to the ground.

"C'mon, we gotta cut 'em off before they get to the sword," Faith said even as she cut down another ninja. How many of these idiots ARE there?

Shaprio moved forward past Faith, heading for the room with the sword they were after. "C'mon, Slayer!" he cried, not knowing how many were actually attacking and actually getting some shots in. He gritted his teeth, ducking and shoving the taser into the leg of one ninja. Another one moved and slashed him in the arm. He hissed in pain. "Fuck!" He punched the ninja in the face, only to be kicked across the cheek. "Dammit, Faith! Hurry UP!"

"I heard you the first time!" Faith snapped back, slamming the hilt of her sword into the ninja's face. He grunted and went down, out cold. She jumped over his body and into the rest of them, slashing with wild abandon - joined a moment later by Ana, who was just as eager if not quite as skilled.

Shapiro got to his feet. "If you heard me, then prove it!" He moved forward and saw that three ninjas surrounded the glass case that held the sword. "Hey!" he called to them. As he did so, his other hand was behind his back, emerging with a smokescreen grenade. He made note exactly how many paces he was from the case himself as he threw the grenade at them.

Thick green smoke billowed forth as soon as it slowed to a stop.

"Great." Faith stared at the smoke. "I can't see in that shit."

"I can," Ana said, already peering through the scope of her rifle. She squeezed off three quick shots, which were followed by three dull thuds. "Beetchin'."

"Don't shoot!" Shapiro ordered, moving forward. He used his mental picture to reach the glass case and smashed the glass with the end of his taser. The alarms began going off.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Faith asked. Nobody said stealing the sword was part of the deal.

He snatched the sword and moved backwards towards the Slayers. The smoke began to fill the room. "Let's go! I've got the sw- ahh!" One of the Hand came up behind him and kicked him in the back, making the sword skitter across the marble floor.

"Are you SURE he's a real soldier?" Ana asked as she and Faith made a dash for the sword, along with all five remaining Hand ninjas.

"No," Faith replied, turning to cover Ana. Better to watch her six than have her watch mine, she reasoned as she cut at one of the red-clad ninjas. "Got it?"

"Got it." Ana lifted the ancient katana and then grimaced. "It's hot!" she exclaimed, tossing it from hand to hand, then to Shapiro, who hadn't seemed bothered.

Shapiro caught it, not even realizing Ana's reaction to it. "Let's get this thing out of here and get it back to base!" he told them, already on the move.

"Yeah... Ana, go!" Faith said, turning to face down the last few standing Hand.

"No, no, not yet," Ana replied. More gunshots filled the air and the ninjas fell over with large holes in them. "Now we can go."

Faith stared at her sister Slayer. "You're having too much fun with that thing," she said as they ran out after Shapiro.

As Ana passed through the back doors, five other ninjas of the Hand dropped down on top of Faith from the tree branches above, determined to at least take one of them down in their failure. It took no time for them to get the dark-haired Slayer to the concrete.

Unfortunately, the Hand were at a few slight disadvantages: first, they had to watch their blows so as not to hit each other, secondly, they didn't have much room to maneuver, and third, they'd just succeeded in finally pissing off a Slayer.

It took a little longer than Faith would have liked, but in the end, she was standing and the ninjas weren't. She sighed and rubbed at a long cut on her forehead. "Fuck," she snapped as she went to catch up with Ana and Shapiro.

"What the hell took you so long?" Shapiro called. They were already halfway to the van.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was busy getting my ass nearly kicked," Faith yelled back. "Thanks for the help, Rambo."

"We need to get our asses moving before more come. I need to call back up to get this place cleaned up." He looked worriedly at the van, wondering what had happened to Rachel. "With the sword in our possession, the Hand can't get to it."

"You should break it," Ana suggested, eyeing the sword distrustfully. She didn't like it.

"We are not breaking an ancient artifact," Shapiro told Ana with a tired glare. "Those weren't the orders we were given on this mission." He sighed, feeling tired all of a sudden.

"Yeah..." Faith shook her head. She was too beat to think. When they reached the van, she pushed the door open, then froze, staring at the sight before her - Rachel and Xander, holding hands. Well, fucking fine, she thought, too tired to speak, too.

Xander turned at the sound of the van's door suddenly opening, not realizing his hand was still on Rachel's. "Hey," he said, then seeing the cuts all over Faith. "Oh, whoa, are you okay? All of you?"

"No, I'm not," Faith replied shortly.

Ana, sizing the situation up correctly, suddenly became very interested in unloading and cleaning her rifle.

"You look okay," Faith added after a few seconds.

"Well, yeah. Rachel and I were just..." Xander quickly removed his hand from hers, trying not to think much of it.

"Just?" Faith prompted.

"We were talking." He looked at the monitors. "When did all this battle and blood go down? How come you didn't call for back up?"

"The radio was broken. Way to keep on top of things," she said, giving Rachel an angry look.

He moved towards Faith, wanting to help her into the van. "Come on. I'll get something for that gash on your head."

"Forget it. I'm fine," she said.

Shapiro glanced over at Rutherford with a slight quirk of his brow. He leaned towards the brunette. "Going for the young ones, aren't you?" he whispered.

"He's only two years younger than I am," she whispered back, "and it's not like that!" she added.

Shapiro shrugged. "Oh, well. I feel sorry for him then. Come on, we need to report this back to base," He moved towards the back of the van.

"Yeah..." Rachel stood up, avoided looking at Faith, and hurried to the back.

"Whoa, hey," Xander said after getting the cold shoulder from Faith. "What's with the light breeze?" he asked. "Or possibly heavy winter storm." He tried to catch her eyes. "Faith? You don't think..?" He pointed to Rachel then himself.

"No. Of course not," Faith replied, shaking her head. "Why would I possibly do that?"

"I don't know. I mean, it's gotta be something. I was thinking the jealousy thing 'cause that's the sad me talking..." He chuckled then took her by the shoulders. "Are you hurt and just being all tough girl and not saying? What can I do?"

Faith's anger boiled over. "You can shut the fuck up and leave me ALONE!" she yelled, the last word filling the entire van. Ana, Rachel and Shapiro all looked over, then away again just as fast.

Xander stepped back a little staring at her in utter shock. He let his hands fall away at her sudden tensed shoulders. "Okay, so... I'm missing something here. Faith..." He hopped off the van, his brown eyes not leaving her angry expression. He hadn't seen her this pissed off in a long time, except when she was in battle of course. But this wasn't a battle - not of any kind. Right? "What's going on here?"

"Jesus, Xander." Faith shook her head. How could he be so fucking dense? "You tell me."

"Faith, I kinda need help in the telling 'cause I'm not following this wake of Angry Faith here."

"Why don't you ask your new friend?"

"My new...?" Realization settled into that and he glanced at where Rachel and Shapiro were radioing in the mission's stats. "Oh." His voice stayed calm. "Faith, I told you, we were only talking."

"Forget it, Xander." Faith sat down. "I'm too tired for this shit."

Xander squatted down beside her. "Okay, I get that you're tired. But... there's nothing to be so pissed off about. Here, let me go get a cloth for that cut." He stood back up, going back into the van. "Uh, Rachel, where are your first aid things?"

"Uh - on the wall there," Rachel replied, pointing at a nondescript grey box bolted to the side of the van. "Xander, look - "

"What?" he asked, moving towards the grey box. He was trying to act normal, as if nothing was happening.

"Maybe you oughta ease up," the Initiative techie suggested, "before she gets really mad?"

Xander turned over a bandage box. "Aw, she's fine." He met her gaze. "She's just... overreacting is all. She does that sometimes."

Rachel just shook her head. Across the van, Faith suddenly stood up, shoved her way past Ana and stomped out without a word.

"I theenk she heard you, too," the Mexican girl said, breaking another awkward silence.

"What? No!" Xander said, moving towards the door. "You couldn't hear me, could you?" he asked Ana, now thoroughly wanting to kick himself in the ass.

"Oh, Xander..." Ana gave him a pitying look. "How long have you known Slayers and still you don't know how well we hear?"

"Crap!" he cursed himself for being so careless. He stuck his head out the door. "Faith!" he called.

The other Slayer just kept on walking, heading for the nearest subway station.

He sighed and climbed back out of the van, running as fast as he could towards her. "Faith! C'mon, I was kidding! Faith, where are you going? The motorcycle is back this way! Rachel and the other guy will take us back there!"

Faith finally turned. "Xander, just give it a rest, okay? I'll see you - later."

"See me later?" He blinked. He moved in front of her. "What do you mean later?" Maybe she just needed time to cool off. He could beg and plead later. "Uh, I'll see back in the hotel then? Do you remember where we're staying?"

"Yeah. Later." She clapped him on the shoulder, then turned and headed off again.

He stood there and watched her go. He held up the box of bandages. "Uh, you don't want to...patch up..." he trailed, his shoulders deflating.

Reaching the van again, he climbed in putting the bandages back in the grey box. "So, when are we getting out of here? Are we done?" he asked the two Initiative members.

Shapiro looked over at Rachel then back at Xander. "Yeah. We got what we came for; we're going to go back to base. We'll drop you and..." He looked over at the remaining Slayer. "Ana off back in Georgetown."

"Gracias," Ana said, although she'd lost any enthusiasm for getting back to the club or her made-up deadline to meet her dad.

"Yeah. Let's go," Rachel said with a sigh. _Fuck._

* * *

Xander waved goodbye to Rachel and Shapiro as they dropped them off in Georgetown without much said after that. Maybe a few "thanks" but the ride there was relatively quiet. 

He came up to the bike, looking back at Ana. He tried to smile. "You better get back to wherever before your father starts sending out the Secret Service."

"Oh..." Ana shrugged. "I made all that up. He's not even staying at the same hotel I am," she said.

"Always knew you were not as innocent as you don't come off as being." His smile faded a notch as he grabbed the helmet off the motorcycle.

Ana laughed once she'd deciphered his statement. "What are you going to do now?" she asked him.

"Go back the hotel. Maybe get some sleep. Or stay up until Faith comes in, but PRETEND to be asleep?" Why was there doubt in his mind about her coming back? But he couldn't think that way; that was old Faith - running away, finding the next boat out of there. "How about you?"

"You - you think she's going to come in?" Ana asked Xander.

Xander met with Ana's eyes, the uncertainty behind them not matching his words. "Well, yeah. You know 'cause... uh, she's my traveling buddy. I mean, a little misunderstanding like this won't drive her away. She just needs to cool off is all."

"Mm." Ana scratched at her fingers.

He paused then blinked. "You don't think she'll come back? I didn't - I wasn't even doing anything of the bad. Me and Initiative Gal were just talking, chatting it up. Nothing more. Faith couldn't possibly think that we... I mean, that's too way out there."

Ana sighed. "Ai yi yi, Xander. You two are off the radio the whole time and then we come back and she sees you holding that girl's hand, and all you do is act like a fool after it," she said, giving him a pitying look.

"Well, when you put it that way..." Xander murmured, his hope falling.

"Pobrecito Xander... How many women have you known?"

"Uh, when you mean 'known' you mean been with, right? I've dated all of two people seriously before Faith, and I didn't do anything to..." He paused. "Okay, so I kissed my best friend while I was dating Cordelia and... I left Anya at the altar on our wedding day... then one was a mummy and the other was attacked by her ex that turned into a large, man-eating worm... " He looked back at Ana. "But that's it! And I've learned my lesson. And two of those were NOT my fault!"

Ana blinked, absorbing all of that for a few seconds before replying. Then she bit her lip a little. Finally she nodded. "Well. Good luck, Xander," she said. "Maybe you could try calling Faith," Ana suggested.

Xander shook his head. "I don't know if she had her cell phone on her..."

"Oh..."

"No. I can't think that she'd run off without talking to me! That's Faith of olden times. This Faith loves me enough to talk to me... right?" Then he realized that they had never said those three magical words. His face fell. He shook his head, grabbing the helmet. "I'll see you," he muttered, getting onto the bike.

"Adios y buena suerte!" Ana called out as Xander drove off. Poor little Xander, she thought, doubtful he'd even find Faith, let alone reconcile with her.

* * *

Xander sat up in the bed, not even realizing he had fallen asleep. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the shotty clock on the nightstand. 5:30am. He then realized he was STILL alone in the bed and flopped back down, his hand to his face. 

"Shit," he muttered.

He got up and went over towards his bag to get new clothes and realized his bag was the only one sitting there. Faith HAD been there. Been there, taken her bag, and left.

"Shit!" he muttered again, kicking his bag.

It was then he realized she had just upped and left. Left him. He sat down on the ground, wondering what he was going to do now.

A second later, there was a loud knock at the door.

"Xander? Are you here?" a muffled voice yelled out. "Xaaaaander."

Xander snapped his head to attention at the knocking. The voice sounded familiar and he moved to open the door. He found Ana there. "Oh, hey," he said with a small smile.

"Hola," Ana said, staring at Xander with a tired expression. She looked past him, didn't see Faith, didn't see her bags, and gave Xander a little smile, then a huge yawn. "Good morning."

"Yeah." He left the door open and walked back inside. "So good it is." He sat down on the bed, staring at his lone bag. "Did you happen to see the motorcycle out there?"

"Que? Oh... no, I'm sorry," Ana said, sitting down next to him on the bed. Then she flopped over onto her back. "But I can barely see anything, so you shouldn't believe me..."

Xander looked over at her with a quirk of his brow. "Where've you been young lady? I take it not listening to bedtime stories with dad. Did you do some patrolling or something?"

"Yes," Ana replied, turning slightly to look over at him. "I patrolled a very nice club in Georgetown, and another one in College Park," she told Xander with a solemn nod. "Then I went to bed. What time is it?"

He glanced at his watch. "Oh, 6am."

"Oh, good. Then I did get two hours of sleep," Ana said, struggling heroically to keep her eyes open.

He shook his head. "You kids. Partying all night. I was like that once... no, I wasn't. Well, if you're gonna take on the Slayer role, you better learn some discipline."

"I can do it. I'm a Mexican, not a Mexi-can't," Ana said, then began giggling and didn't stop for almost twenty seconds.

"Uh, huh..." Xander said, looking at her with a bewildered look. "Keep your night job, chica."

"Which one? Having fun or killing monsters?" she asked, still giggling a little.

Then he grinned. He stood up and ran his fingers through his tussled hair. He looked around, a little lost a moment. Bending over, he grabbed his bag. "I gotta get ready to go."

Ana sat up. "Where are you going to go?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know... maybe back west. Ever been to either of the Dakotas?"

"No." Ana frowned slightly. "I hear it's like Baja, except cold. Why would you go there?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Sounds like a good place to mope and die. I mean, 'Dakota' - that's a word to lay down and never wake up again from." With that, he went into the bathroom and began to freshen up.

When he returned, Ana was flipping through the phone book and muttering to herself. Then she grinned triumphantly and tore one of the pages out. "Come on! I know a better thing to do than mope and die."

"But, what if that's my entire itinerary?" Xander asked, zipping up his bag. "You can't get in the way of that. Really, Ana, you don't wanna hang around a doofus like me. I'm kinda boring - obviously."

Ana stood up and glared at Xander. "My English isn't so good sometimes, so say that again. I know you didn't tell me to leave."

He put up his hands. "Whoa, no. I wasn't telling YOU to leave. I was suggesting I leave. I'm sure you have places to get going and party down with. I started this trip by myself; I'll be cool finishing it that way. Like I expected it to end any other way, right?" he said, playfully punching her in the arm.

Ana caught his fist and held it securely. "You are not going to mope around. Come with me. I told you, I have a good idea." Smiling sweetly, she dragged him towards the door.

Not having any choice, he grabbed his bag as he was pulled towards the door. "Hey, where are we going? What idea do you have? And should I be scared?"

"You'll see, you'll see, no," Ana replied, still smiling as she led Xander down the hall and to a waiting car - a shiny red BMW convertible. "Get in," she told him, finally letting go.

"Uh, wow, where'd this come from?" he asked as he threw his bag into the back and climbed in.

"My uncle got it for me as a birthday present," Ana replied as she hopped behind the wheel.

"Think you might be able to drop me off in the Dakotas?"

"We'll see." Ana waited until he was inside, then, grinning madly, gunned the engine and peeled rubber.

Ten minutes later, she pulled the car to a smooth stop in front of a large import car dealership. "Here. If you're going to follow Faith, at least now you'll have a car. A real car." She got out and waited for Xander.

Xander sat in the car in more bewilderment. "Um, what do you mean?" He stared at the cars in the showroom. "I didn't say I was gonna follow Faith; even if I did, I don't know where the heck she went. She could be halfway to Istanbul for all I know and are you saying I'm gonna get a car?"

"Yes, I am. What are you going to do, walk after her?" Ana replied calmly. "You are going to follow Faith, and you are going to do it in style," she concluded, hands on her hips.

"But... how? Look, Ana, you gotta understand Faith. She sets her mind on whatever, she's not really changing it." Nevertheless, he got out of the car. "She doesn't want to be found, she won't be. It's something I've learned Slayers are pretty darn good at."

"You think you know Slayers, and maybe you do, but I know women." Ana leaned in close. "Faith wants you to find her, even if she wouldn't say so. As for the rest..." She shrugged. "You're smart. You'll figure it out."

"And I'm gonna go find her just so I can get my lights punched out?" he asked.

"I know she won't do that," Ana lied.

He shook his head. "If you're pulling my chain about this car thing, you might as well kick me in the kneecaps right now." He stuck his hands in his pockets.

Ana cleared her throat, slightly offended. "I am not keedding." She looked around the lot. "Find one you like."

Xander couldn't believe what was being presented before him. He stepped towards the row of cars, looking around in awe. "Are you serious? Like if I wanted that silver SL500 Mercedes Roadster, it's mine?"

"It's yours," Ana confirmed with a quick smile.

He went up to the shiny new convertible two-seater, running his hand across the door. "Holy..." He leaned in and saw the black leather interior, the wood paneling. "Ana, this is illegal business we're doing is it?" he turned towards her.

"No it's not." Ana threw him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how can I just hop in this car and go with it? I can barely afford the bus ride on the Metro out of here!"

Ana rolled her eyes. "Who said you would afford it?" she asked him.

"Well, I can't very well have YOU pay for it! I wouldn't live long enough to pay it all back." He leaned on it, almost slipping off of the newly waxed exterior.

"Xander, you are being a complete bore," Ana yawned.

"Hey, I warned you," he added.

"Do you want the SL500?" she asked him, ignoring his protestations.

"Well... yeah."

Ana smiled. "Good. Come on, let's find a salesman."

* * *

Xander had started the smooth purring of the engine and he sat behind the wheel, looking up at Ana when he was ready to leave the parking lot. "Uh, wow, I just don't feel 'thanks' covers THIS." 

"Well, say it anyway," Ana told him. "I owe you and Faith for helping me."

"Thanks... but you kinda helped me. Us."

Ana shrugged. "Close enough."

He smiled. "Seriously, thanks, Ana. I got your number, right?"

"Yes, I think you do." Ana smiled back at him. "Good luck Xander. Tell Faith I said hello when you see her. And you will. Or I'll kick your ass."

"Gosh, I feel like I'm gonna get my ass kicked no matter what." He flipped on the radio. "Bye, Ana!"

"Adios!"

He waved as he pulled out with a screech of tires.

Ana winced. _That poor car..._


	11. Story Eight: Atlanta

**STORY EIGHT: IN THE ATL (aka THE REUNION)**

Faith slipped out of the club, brushing past a few partygoers with more stamina than she had. Blaring music seemed to follow her for half the block as she left Level 3 behind. It was three in the morning - pretty early, really - and all she wanted to do was crawl into a hotel room and sleep for a week.

Except sleep was bad. Sleep meant she'd have to lay there in the dark, alone, and then dream. About him.

_Fuck that._ She stalked down the dark streets, hoping to run into a vampire or two. Anything she could beat the shit out of, any excuse for some mindless violence.

As she rounded a corner, turning onto a shopping street, Faith stopped and listened. She could have -

CRASH!

The window right in front of her shattered as someone was thrown into and through it.

In a flash, Faith drew a stake, ready to face what was coming out after -

"Buffy?"

Buffy Summers grimaced in pain, holding onto her side. She had a huge cut across her cheek and a bruise on her forehead. She looked up at the person she had nearly smashed into. "Ow..." Her brows rose. "Faith?" She got to her feet, cringing more from the glass beneath her hands.

Faith stared at the blonde Slayer, blinking to reassure herself this was actually happening. "What the hell? What's going on?"

"Oh, you know... just getting thrown through random large windows," she murmured.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, huh?" Faith asked with a grin.

"I think that's YOU who has problems going through windows... or wait, that's you having problems not staying atop buildings too well."

"Hey, you started that one," Faith pointed out with a laugh.

Buffy dusted her self off after giving Faith a small grin. She straightened up. "What are you doing all the way down her in Atlanta?"

"Right now? Wondering who's the one doing the throwing..."

Buffy glanced from the darkness of the building. "A Slayer. Really stubborn one, too."

"What?" Faith looked into the building. "What'd you do to piss her off?"

Buffy shook her head. "I said, 'hey, I'm Buffy. I wanna help you 'cause I know you're a Slayer'? then we fought a little. I really didn't wanna fight."

Faith nodded. "Kind of a livewire, huh?"

She sighed. "The girl was hiding from the cops, though. I have a really bad, deja vu feeling about this."

"Oh." Faith winced. "This is going to be fun." She took another look into the building. "You up for tracking the chick down?"

Buffy glanced over at Faith then shrugged. "I could handle it myself, but yeah, sure. I'll give you something to do."

"Yeah, you looked like you were handling it pretty good. What was the next part of your plan after getting kicked through the window?" Faith asked with a grin.

Buffy couldn't help but grin and shook her head. "Fine. So I need help. Even if it is from you."

"There... that wasn't so hard. Plus, funny. Where'd you first run into her?"

"Giles was informing me about her," she answered, moving towards the broken glass again.

"How is the G-Man anyway?"

"Giles? Oh, you know, Giles is Giles." She smiled. "He just can't get enough of this whole Hellmouth thing so he hung around after we left Sunnydale. Which is kinda nice, to still have him, ya know?"

"Yeah, must be," Faith replied.

"We're in Cleveland for now, and we try to bring in as many of the new Slayers as we can find. I got to travel this time around, although Giles is better at this than me. Must be a Watcher thing. Anyway, he was worried about this one because she had this kinda bad record with the police here."

"How bad?" Faith wondered. "Are we talking petty stuff or serious attitude?"

Buffy looked over at Faith. "Petty stuff with serious attitude... until a few days ago when she took down an entire bar in this place in the Highlands. She hurt a lot of people; good thing they all lived, though. Giles just had this hunch about... well, it has to do with her gaining a little bit of power." She made a little pinch space between her index finger and thumb.

"Power trip, huh?" _Well, guess I came here just in time_. "How do we want to play this? I can talk to her... or does Giles have some kinda plan?"

"Oh, yeah. His plan? To send good old Buffy to handle this one."

"Man." Faith shook her head slowly. "Giles must be losing it in his old age..."

"Did you fucking have ENOUGH, Bitchy the Vampire Slayer!" came a voice with a slight southern accent.

"Lemme guess?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Meet Sandy." She gestured towards the darkness as if the girl was standing there. "I tried talking, and look what happened."

"Okay. I have a plan. We beat her ass and then I talk to her. How's that sound?"

"You know, for all the talk about you changing and regretting in the mistakes of your past in jail, you still have the same Faith way you always had."

Faith shrugged. "Hey, I am who I am... Besides, you got any other ideas?"

Buffy pondered that a moment. "Yeah, let's do that." She stepped through the hole. "Hey, Sandy! Come on, I don't wanna keep doing it the hard way. My poor, old back can't handle any more windows."

A full paint can came flying from the darkness, Buffy barely ducking in time.

Faith watched as the can hit the street and exploded, covering the blacktop with green paint. "I'm really starting to not like this chick," she told Buffy. "Time for the hard way."

She leapt through the broken window and landed inside the store, peering around in search of this Sandy.

"Uh, don't totally beat her into submission," Buffy whispered as she crept behind Faith. "We do want her in one piece when we get her back to Giles."

Faith feigned a hurt look. "Hey, c'mon... I can be gentle."

"C'mon, y'all!" Sandy called. "I don't have time for this! The cops will be coming for me soon, and I wanna be out of here!" There was a shuffling and another object came flying out. "You can't take me, Buffy! What the hell kind of name is that anyway?"

"Don't SAY anything," she warned Faith to the remark. "Why don't you try to find a way to get her from behind?"

"Right." Faith slipped off into the darkness and worked her way through the store, slowly creeping up behind a blonde girl in a long leather coat. She had pink streaks in her hair, too, and it was all Faith could do not to snicker. _Oh, this chick's got problems. _

Faith looked around, didn't spot anything even remotely resembling a weapon, then shrugged and launched herself at Sandy, tackling her to the ground. Before the other girl could recover, Faith was sitting on her back, one arm pressed up against the back of her neck.

"Howdy," Faith told the young Slayer.

"Why couldn't I have done that?" Buffy muttered to herself as she approached the two Slayers. She smiled, squatting down near Sandy for her to see her. "Gotcha."

Sandy struggled but had major leverage issues from her position. "Fuck you! What the hell! Get OFF me!" She tried to buckle from below.

"Not yet," Faith replied, shifting slightly to make sure Sandy didn't get any leverage.

"We just want to talk to you, Sandy," Buffy explained. "We're here to help you. We know you recently got... well, faster, stronger - all of the above and then some."

"So! It's the best fucking thing that's happened to me! I get whatever I want, WHENEVER I want!"

Faith stared down at Sandy for a few seconds, considering how best to respond. Finally she settled on "Grow the fuck up."

Buffy looked up at Faith with a quirk of her brow then back at Sandy. "Okay, well, wasn't gonna go there yet, but point is you can't just go around beating up people just 'cause you can. That's not why you were chosen."

Sandy kept struggling. "What? Chosen? For what? It's MY life - I can do whatever I want with it. I don't know what the hell a Slayer is, but I know I can carjack any car I wanna. Get as much money as I can. That's all I NEED! You aren't my fucking parents!"

"You're right," Faith said, ducking down and speaking right into Sandy's ear. "We're not. That means we can pound the shit out of you if that's what it takes to make you listen. See - Buffy there, she's big on giving people second chances. Me, not so much. Who do you want to be in charge of this intervention?"

Sandy glanced up at the blond Slayer who just shrugged. "Fine! Just get the hell off me, then!"

Faith looked over at Buffy. 'Ya think?' she mouthed. If it were up to her, Sandy would stay where she was until this was all sorted out.

Buffy stood up and nodded, motioning for Faith to follow through. "We should get her a little more comfortable with what we are gonna say next."

"All right." Faith stood up and backed away from Sandy. She glanced at Buffy again, then at Sandy. "Here comes the weird part..."

Sandy stood up glancing between the two and then went after Buffy. Buffy sidestepped the charging girl, kicking her hard in the back. Sandy sprawled to the ground, dazed while Buffy reached down and grabbed her up, slamming her against the wall. "How'd I know you were going to do that?" She held her firm by the throat. "Now, just listen to me, Sandy. This isn't what this power is used for; not fighting me, not fighting Faith. We're on YOUR side. You're one of us." She blinked. "Wow, that WAS weird," she added looking over at Faith.

"I'm not like either one of you fucking bitches!" Sandy declared, trying to break out of Buffy's grip.

"No denying that," Faith said easily. "Would you stop being an asshat and listen to us for a second? Here's the deal. You're a Slayer... chosen to fight the powers of darkness, demons, vampires, zombies, all that fun stuff. That's why you're so strong all of the sudden."

"Fight what?" Sandy asked in sudden confusion. "There's no such thing!"

"Sorry. Is so." She looked over at Buffy. "What'd I miss? Maybe we need to do some show and tell for her?"

"I'd tell you that you forgot the whole 'The one girl in all the world...' speech, but I guess that doesn't apply anymore, does it?" Buffy looked back at Sandy. "Yeah, I think we can do some show and tell." She jerked Sandy by the front of her jacket from the wall. "I know a nice large graveyard we can walk through."

"What for?" she asked, her toughness faltering a notch at the thought.

"So you can see for yourself that there are such things," Faith replied. "Don't worry. We'll protect you," she added with a wink.

* * *

Buffy still held Sandy by the jacket as they stood in the middle of a large cemetery on the outskirts of the city. The half moon shown up in the clear sky. "Do you sense anything?" she asked Sandy.

Sandy was sulking but she had calmed down a lot since they got there. "I sense I'm being fucking held prisoner by the both of you," she answered.

Faith was tempted to slap Sandy in the back of the head._ Even I was never this bitchy_, she told herself. "Quit your whining, will you? This is for a good cause. Now answer the question. DO you sense anything? Little shiver running down your back? Some kinda tickle in your head?"

"No!" Sandy snapped.

"Well, damn."

"I think it comes with age," Buffy murmured to Faith. Suddenly, Buffy swung Sandy around, kicking the figure coming up behind them. The vampire landed a few feet back, none too happy with the encounter. "Faith, maybe you could...?" She nodded towards Sandy, nudging the young Slayer towards her. "I have a feeling you'd be better suited to babysit her."

"B, what'd I do to deserve this? Can't I kill the vamp?"

Sandy frowned, trying to hide the surprise from witnessing the vampire. "I don't fucking need any babysitting!"

"Uh-huh. Buffy, c'mon..."

Buffy shrugged, glancing over her shoulder and seeing the vampire making a run for it. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I hate when they make me give chase!" Then she took off after it.

"Bye," Faith called, waving cheerfully as Buffy ran off. _Great. Stick me with the psycho._

Sandy crossed her arms. "Can I just go away now?"

"No. If I have to put up with you, you have to put up with me," Faith said, resting up against a nearby tree. "So what's your story, anyway?" she asked Sandy.

"What do ya' mean 'what's my story'?" Sandy growled. "I just survive; end of story. Bet you and Barbie have no idea what that's like when it doesn't have anything to do with... monsters and stuff." She kicked at a rock. "This is stupid. I have better ways of spending my time and my cool new 'Slayer' powers."

"Are you really this stupid or do you just pretend you are?" Faith asked. "Cuz you have no idea what I know or don't know. You want to know what I know?"

Faith took a few steps forward, almost grinning when Sandy shrank back. She told the pink-striped girl all about her own miserable life. Even leaving out everything involving Sunnydale, it still took ten minutes just to hit the highlights. "So," Faith concluded, "don't act like you're the only one who's ever been kneedeep in the shit."

Sandy couldn't even look at Faith in the eyes as she told part of her life story. She didn't want to show that Faith had topped her own life's horrors. "Fine, you know what I'm going through. Yay for you. But I know how to use what I got to MY advantage. These powers are making my life so much easier and I'm not getting sucked into believing I'm gonna make a difference around here. If you're this Slayer and Buffy's this Slayer, then there's gotta be a hell of a lot more of you guys. One less isn't gonna make a fuck of a difference. NOW can I go?"

Faith rolled her eyes. She was getting closer, but it hadn't quite sunk in yet. "No. Yeah, there's a lotta Slayers these days. But guess what?"

"What?" Sandy asked just ready to shoot back whatever Faith had to give her.

"There's a hell of a lot more vampires and demons." Faith smiled grimly. "You're drafted. Deal with it, Sandy. You wanna try and use your powers for stupid, go ahead. You won't get far."

"Why not? Aren't you and Barbie pretty much unstoppable? I'll deal with these supposed vampires when they get in my way, along with everyone else. I got the powers; I can deal with them no problem." She sighed and decided that asking if she could go was useless so she decided to make up her own mind and start to walk away.

"You're tough, but you're not bulletproof," Faith called out. If that didn't work, she figured she could tackle the kid and slap some sense into her. Literally.

Sandy snickered, throwing a hand over her shoulder, shooting Faith the bird. "Whatever, Angelia Jolie wanna be! We'll see how much they'll have time even getting out their guns."

"God, you are stupid." Faith kicked slightly, launching a rock at Sandy. The small stone bounced off the other girl's forehead.

Sandy winced at the impact, rubbing the spot on her forehead. "Ouch, you bitch! That hurt!"

"Surprise! You're dead."

Sandy's knitted blond brows relaxed a bit at the lesson learned. "That's... that's way different, what you did there. I wasn't expecting that!"

_I'm not surprised_, Faith thought. "Nobody ever is," she said with a sage look on her face. "Seriously, Sandy. I've been where you are - even if my hair was better - and I know where it ends up. You'll be dead or some fat con's bitch in a year or two if you keep it up."

"That'll be my lesson then," Sandy murmured. "Till then..."

"Have you listened to one damn word I've said?" Faith asked impatiently.

"Yeah, I have! You're almost as bad as the blond one!"

Faith's eyes widened. "Hey! Don't say shit you're gonna regret later."

"So, I get put in jail - didn't hold you. It wouldn't hold me. I'll deal!"

"You're not listening. I didn't get 'put' in jail, I let them take me. If it comes down to it, it's going to be you against a buncha SWAT guys with machine guns. Who do you think is going to win that one?"

Sandy had to ponder that one. "I guess I..." That's when a figure of the fanged kind tackled her from behind, sending them both near Faith's feet.

"Oh, for - " Faith grabbed the vampire up by its hair. A mullet - a vampire with a mullet. She laughed. "Hey! I'm trying to be all parental here, freak. Thanks a lot." She staked the creature, then turned to Sandy. "You okay?"

Sandy got shakily to her feet. "Y-yeah... where'd the hell did he come from? I thought Buffy was gonna take care of it?"

"Different vamp. Told you, there's a lot of 'em."

Buffy came up behind Sandy. "Have you guys bonded?" she asked.

Sandy, startled, turned and shot out her fist only to be caught by Buffy. "You scared the fuck out of me!"

Buffy let go. "Oh, um, sorry. I do that sometimes. I don't know my own stealth."

"That's not hard," Faith joked.

She looked over at Faith. "Is she ready?"

Faith glanced at Sandy. "Are you?"

Sandy looked confused as Buffy stood beside Faith. "For what?"

Buffy nodded behind her. "I've had my fun. Now it's your turn."

Sandy turned around as two other vampires approached her. "Wait, I don't know what to do!"

"What? Just pretend they're me and Faith." Buffy leaned back on a gravestone.

"Pretend you're me," Faith added.

"Oh. Don't forget this." Buffy pulled out a stake and tossed it to Sandy.

Sandy caught it, looking at it. "Wh-what do I do with it?"

"Shove it into their hearts," Faith instructed, keeping her own at the ready in case Sandy ran into trouble. She saw that Buffy had drawn another one for the same reason. "Go kick that ass."

Sandy took in a breath and approached the two vampires just to show Buffy and Faith she COULD do it.

As Sandy and the two vamps fought, Buffy watched. "I think maybe you cracked her with your boring speech," she told Faith.

"Shoulda let you do it, you're so good at it," Faith pointed out, watching Sandy. Girl had some potential, she had to admit.

"You'll be happy to know I've cut down on those things. Where've you been since you left the big yellow bus? You and Robin just kinda... took off."

"Yeah..." Faith shook her head. "It's a long story, B."

"Are you still with him? Well, obviously, not now..." She winced when Sandy got kicked in the face. "Ooo, she should've seen that one coming a mile away."

"Well, it is two against one." Faith shrugged. "And no, not with Robin. Not with anybody," she said, hoping Buffy would drop it before it all came out.

"Oh," Buffy said, picking up Faith's tone. "Bad break up?"

"Yeah." She stared at Sandy, who had managed to take out one of the vampires. "Think she learned her lesson?"

Buffy looked over at Sandy, pushing off the gravestone. "Yeah, but she's about to end it in a bad way." She could see that Sandy had made a mistake by taking a split second to enjoy the fact that she had dusted one of them. Buffy ran over there, using a gravestone to propel herself at the second vampire, smashing him into the ground. She staked the vampire quickly through his back.

Faith watched and muttered "Show-off" under her breath.

"You did good," Buffy said, standing up. "But when there's more than one you have to kind of pay attention to more than one."

Sandy looked exhausted and bloodied up pretty good. She put her hand up against her bleeding nose. "Shit."

"It heals. You believe it now?"

"I... guess."

"I'm not really good at explaining things, but I know someone who can. It'll help you a lot more if you knew more about your destiny. Unfortunately, I didn't listen when it was explained to me so..." She scanned the area. "I think that's all who's rising tonight. Come on, let's get you cleaned up and get you something to eat. I bet you're hungry."

Sandy put her hand over her stomach. "Actually, I'm starving."

"Welcome to the club." Faith patted Sandy on the shoulder. She grinned at Buffy, who clearly expected Faith to tell Sandy the other half of the post-Slayer hunger. "So where's a good place to eat cheap at five in the morning?"

* * *

Sitting in the middle of a midtown Wafflehouse, the three Slayers ate some of the greasiest food Buffy never wanted to ingest again. She sat back in the booth. "Oh, blech. That was so gross." But her plate was clean.

"Huh?" Faith asked, wiping maple syrup off her face. "You dissin' this? I haven't eaten this good in weeks, B. What about you?" she asked Sandy.

But Sandy was dozing off atop the table. "Okay, no answer there," Buffy answered. "I told you this stuff was bad for you. It puts you in a butterball coma." She sighed, leaning back. "I need to call Giles soon. Willow might be driving him a little wacky. She kinda gets excited when she finds new Slayers to track down. She usually gets to do this stuff." A sadness fell over her face then. "Kinda like the old days."

"You miss it?" Faith asked. She could count the good memories from Sunnydale on one hand.

"There's a lot of things I miss," Buffy said, quietly. "It's good that Giles and I got through the rift we had. I was being stupid. Really, even. And I love it that Giles got to follow me and Will to the other Hellmouth. But..." She trailed. "Xander upped and left one night. And I think about him sometimes. I know he's safe 'cause Willow did this spell to at least tell us that much, but still... I just wonder what happened. He never talked to us." She reached for her coffee and sipped at it, thoughtfully.

Faith stared down at her own coffee. She had to tell Buffy, no doubt about it... but HOW? "Yeah. Well... Xander's doing okay for himself," she told Buffy.

Buffy looked up at Faith. "Trying to make me feel better, are you? Since when was that your 'thing'?"

"Hey, c'mon," Faith said, genuinely hurt.

"Uh..." She was a little surprised at the reaction. "I didn't mean it like that, Faith. I'm sorry." She put her mug down, eying the other Slayer carefully. "Wait, you're NOT just saying that? You KNOW?"

"Yeah, I know." She smiled crookedly. "All right, you deserve it..." She sighed, then gave Buffy an update on her adventures with Xander, starting with San Francisco and ending in DC - taking care to omit some of the NC-17 details for Buffy's sanity's sake.

"Oh..." Buffy sat back in the seat again. "I didn't expect... I mean, you and Xander never talked so that's why with the surprise of you and him..." She blinked. "You and him?"

"Me and him." Faith finished her coffee. "Over, though."

"Over. Okay, run this by me again - you left Washington D.C because...?"

Faith glared at the other Slayer. "Do we have to get into this now, B? I haven't slept in thirty hours."

"Faith, you told me you saw him with another girl. Some... Initiative girl. And they were... did you say kissing?"

"Buffy, I told you, I don't wanna get into this now," Faith snapped. She looked around for their waitress. "Let's just pay and go, okay?"

"Faith..." She sighed, not even moving to look for the waitress. Sandy was still asleep anyway. "What did he do to you to make you leave? He's kinda notorious for doing stupid things."

"Great, fine. Thanks for leaving it alone," Faith said, then told Buffy what had happened.

"So you opened up the van and saw him HOLDING the girl's hand?" Buffy shook her head slightly. "I never thought you'd be the jealous type, truthfully." She hid behind her mug as she took a sip.

"Look, Buffy. Xander's - I know you've known him forever, but you gotta admit he's got some shaky history when it comes to women. I thought we had something good, then I turn around for ten minutes and he's already putting the moves on some Army chick." Faith took another look around for their waitress. "I'm sick of it."

"I know Xander, and yes, I've known him forever - but it really sounds like he loves you, and I know how it feels to be on the otherside of that. It's genuine, and I really don't think he meant anything. He's not like that."

Faith stared across the table. "Cordelia? Willow? Anya? You? Who hasn't he screwed with, B?"

"Okay, I admit, his women history is shaky at best... but don't you think maybe, um, you didn't see what you THINK you saw? So this isn't the first time he's made the moves on someone other than you?"

"I know what I saw, Buffy," Faith said. "That was the first time... that I saw," she admitted.

"Okay..." She shrugged. "If you knew all about his history, why did you two even become anything?"

"Why did you hook up with a vampire?" Faith asked in reply. "It just happened."

"But it happened because I gave him the benefit of a doubt," Buffy said. "I trusted him. I think I remember a time when I saw you and him doing the hugging thing, and yeah, I got just a tad jealous. But you know what? I talked to him and found out what he REALLY was doing. It ended up it was a different story than I saw and we ARE talking about Angel, right?"

"I thought we were," Faith said slowly. "Look, Buffy... I know you're sticking up for him, but it's over. I don't want to talk about it," she told Buffy in an end-of-discussion tone.

"Okay." She shrugged again. "I wasn't sticking up for him; I was sticking up for the thing called a 'relationship.' It is pretty funny about you and him being anything at all, actually." She chuckled. "Talk about WAY opposites."

"Yeah. Too opposite, I guess," Faith grumbled. _Well, at least someone is amused by all this._ "Let's wake up sleeping beauty and get out of here," she said, standing up. "I need to sleep."

Buffy nodded. "Hey, uh, since I have you here, is there a number I could give Giles? Just in case we... he might need you?" She reached over and shook Sandy slightly. She stirred a bit.

"Yeah." Faith rattled off the number for her cell phone. "C'mon, kid, rise and shine," she said, poking Sandy.

Sandy murmured something and blinked back the sleepiness as Buffy took out the cash to pay for all the platters. She stood up. "Come on, Sandy," she told the new Slayer. "The sooner we get to Cleveland, the better." She looked at Faith. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"Not yet," Faith replied. "Cleveland, huh?"

"Yeah. So far, like Sunnydale except with bigger buildings."

"Sounds like fun."

Buffy reached into her purse and handed Faith a key card. "The Marriott Marquee downtown. I have it for one night, but it doesn't look like I need it. It's on Giles."

"Oh, hey, you shouldn't - but thanks," Faith said, pocketing the key. "Tell Giles I said thanks when you see him."

"I will."

"Who the fuck is Giles?" Sandy asked. She stretched and grimaced in soreness.

"Your new boss," Faith said. "You gonna be okay with her?" she quietly asked Buffy.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah." She moved towards the door. "Hey, uh, take care of yourself. And... thanks for telling me about Xander. I'm glad he had someone to watch over him. If you ever swoop by Cleveland, look me up."

"Will do." Faith grinned, then hugged Buffy. "You stay outta trouble, okay?"

"You try saying that to the mirror sometimes," Buffy snickered.

"Hey! I never get into trouble," Faith protested.

"Stay safe, Faith." With that, she led Sandy out the door who only glanced at Faith.

"Nice meeting you too, kiddo."

* * *

The door to the hotel room that Buffy lent to Faith slowly opened. Xander's head peeked in, looking into the dimmed room. He slipped in and tried carefully not to trip over or knock over anything. He stopped, however, when he saw Faith sleeping quietly in the queen-sized bed. God, how much he missed her. And it had been less than two days since they had been separated. But still... every moment hurt. It had been the most time that they had been away from each other, and to know WHY it happened...

He crept up to the bed and squatted down near her. He carefully placed the cell phone that belonged to her on the nightstand and contemplated about just sitting there, watching her or getting up and going. Instead, he had to do what he thought was fair. If she wanted him gone for good, he'd know. He reached over and shook her gently. "Faith?" he whispered.

Faith grabbed the intruder's wrist and twisted - at the last second, she recognized him, sparing Xander a few broken bones.

"Gah!" Xander cried, automatically trying to pull away before his wrist became two parts.

"Jesus! Xander - what? How?" she stammered, staring up at him in the darkness, a dozen emotions running through her heart. Confusion was the main one, though.

"Uh, first of all, how about letting go? Just in case you happen to get the urge again?" He nodded towards her hold on his wrist.

She let go in a flash, mumbling "Sorry."

"And secondly, I, uh, just came to return your phone. You left it in the motel back in D.C."

"Oh." Faith stared at the phone in question. "That - that's it?"

Xander rubbed his wrist. "Yeah, that's... it."

Faith nodded, a bit numbly. _Thought so._

He turned to walk back towards the door but stopped before he took even two steps. "No, that's not it." He turned back around.

As he did, Faith sat up in bed, staring silently at him.

"I love you. I know this is probably a little awkward at the most, and you probably don't want to hear it after what happened, but I just want you to know it. Whatever you thought when you saw me and Initiative Gal, it's not true. God, how much can I tell you how true it's not? I'd NEVER do that to you, Faith, I swear to it. I miss you." He dipped his head. "Anyway, just... I just wanted you to know that. Okay, um, so... I'll see you."

Faith sat rooted in place, then jumped up - moving about as fast as she ever had - and grabbed Xander again, this time considerably more gently than before. "Where do you think you're going?"

Xander looked deeply into her eyes. "I'm... I'm doing what you probably want me to do. I just... I just came to drop off your phone. I suck, Faith, a lot. I knew I was gonna screw up. So, you know, I could see this whole thing happening." He forced a smile. "If you weren't gonna leave on your own along this trip, I knew I'd make you - one stupid way or another. It's the Xander Harris way."

"Sounds to me like you gotta stop being THAT Xander Harris," Faith said, tugging him back away from the door. "And more like the one I let hang out with my bad self..."

Was it that she was giving him a chance? Or was that just hope talking in his ear? "Faith, that Xander Harris is part of Xander Harris. But whatever I can do to at least get my 'sorries' answered, I'll do it... as long as it doesn't include me having to eat anything gross like bugs or intestines." He dared put his hand on her cheek. "Other than that, anything."

"Hm." Faith nodded slowly, deep in thought. "Two things..."

"Okay," he said, letting his hand drop but nodding solemnly to show he was serious.

"First... never lay another hand on an Army chick," Faith told him.

"Uh, but what if she's trying to attack you and I have to... just joking. Yes, that I can do. No Army chick touching."

Faith smiled thinly. "And second... come here," she whispered, drawing him towards the bed.

Xander couldn't help the grin traveling over his lips as they headed towards the bed. He slowly let her on the bed. "I missed you so much, Faith," he whispered.

"Missed you too," Faith replied as she removed her nightshirt.

"Promise me something?"

"What?" she asked, peering at him.

"Don't leave like that, okay? Let's talk, maybe go in the ring, fight it out. But... just not like that. I think it was about the worst feeling in the world."

Faith stared down at the sheets, then nodded. "I promise," she told him in a low voice, barely even a whisper.

He made her look back at him. "Hey, we're both learning as we go, okay?"

"Guess we are," she replied with a shaky grin.

He kissed her gently. "I do love you, though, Faith. Is that... scary?"

Faith looked up at him. "No..." she conceded. "Scary is - I don't know."

"Miss Fearless. It's why I keep you around," he teased. "Or... what IS scary, Faith?"

"You not loving me," Faith confessed. "You leaving."

Xander blinked, surprised at her answer. "Faith... never." He kissed her again, passionately, to show that scenario would NEVER happen. He couldn't even imagine that happening. When he pulled back, he had a twinkle in his dark eyes. "Hey, our love is so amazing that it led me to you without even knowing where you went."

"Hey, how did you find me?" Faith asked, giving him a curious look.

"What, you don't believe what I just told you?" he asked, feigning a hurt look.

Faith snickered. "Come on. Seriously."

He looked over at the cell phone. "I got a call."

"Ahh. Let me guess."

He looked back at her. "An old pal of mine somehow got your number and somehow knew you didn't have it on you. She even left a key for me to get in here, which, by the way, was probably a BAD idea since I almost didn't leave with out my hand." He brushed her hair away from her face. "Buffy pretty much ordered me to come down here. But since I'm kinda done listening to her, I figure it wouldn't hurt to come on my own. It's been a long time since I've appreciated something Buffy's done for me." He smiled sadly. "I'm glad she called."

"So am I," Faith said, making a mental note to thank Buffy herself next time they ran into each other. _Shouldn't be long,_ she thought, then frowned a little at that odd thought. Then she pushed it all aside. "So..."

"So... I'm tired," he said, moving to her side and wrapping his arms around her. "I've been driving here as fast as my car could go. I got pulled over at the Tennessee/Georgia line." He yawned but blinked away the sleepiness. "But I have some energy left." Then he yawned again.

"Some?" Faith asked, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Hey, if you want some of this, you better hurry before whatever's left goes away..." He was already nudging his head against her, just to keep her close, and to get more comfortable.

"Always," Faith said, pressing her lips up against Xander and pushing him back down onto the bed.


End file.
